Virar gang-rape accused arrested two years after assaulting 16-year-old

Man arrested after being on the run since August 2022 for gang-rape of a 16-year-old girl in Virar; accused intercepted while visiting family for Ramzan.

Mumbai: A 25-year-old man was arrested on Saturday after allegedly being on the run since August 2022 for his involvement in the gangrape of a 16-year-old girl in Virar.

Nawaz Arif Shaikh was arrested on Saturday. (AFP/representational image)

According to the police officers, the accused, identified as Nawaz Arif Shaikh alias Lala, was working as an autorickshaw driver in Surat after he fled Virar. On Saturday, the police officers from CB’s Unit 3 received information that Shaikh returned to his house to wish his family on Ramzan when the officers intercepted him and arrested him.

During his interrogation, Shaikh allegedly revealed that in August 2022, a 16-year-old girl from his area had lured her friend (the victim) to a hut in Virar (East) where Shaikh and three other men raped her, while taking turns. The men allegedly shot a video of the act as well and threatened the girl that they would post the video clip on social media if she revealed the incident to her parents.

“After the girl had returned home, she complained of pain in her private part after which she was rushed to the hospital, where the doctors checked and confirmed that she had been raped,” said a police officer from Unit 3 of the Mira-Bhayander-Vasai-Virar police’s Crime Branch.

Based on the complaint of the girl, the police registered a case of gangrape against the four men and the minor girlfriend of the victim under section 376 (d) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Information Technology Act. The police had earlier arrested the other three co-accused men and the victim’s friend but Shaikh had been absconding since then.

“The accused returned home to be with his family during Ramzan when we received a tip-off leading to his arrest. Shaikh has been arrested and transferred to Virar police custody for further investigation,” said the officer.