Two arrested from Ambernath for kidnapping, sexually assaulting girl

Two men were arrested in Mumbai for allegedly kidnapping and sexually harassing a runaway girl. The accused have been identified as Ganesh Siddhi and Jitesh Mohod.

Mumbai: Two men were arrested recently from Ambernath for allegedly kidnapping and sexually harassing a runaway girl.

HT Image

The accused have been identified as Ganesh Siddhi and Jitesh Mohod. While Siddhi was arrested on August 6, Mohod was arrested on Wednesday.

According to the police, the 16-year-old victim ran away from home after a fight with her mother and, on August 4, met Siddhi at Thane railway station, who offered to provide her shelter in Mohod’s place. “The girl left home on the afternoon of August 4. The same evening, she called her parents from Siddhi’s phone. He also spoke to the parents and assured them that he would persuade her to return home that night. When she did not return till the next evening, the parents approached us, after which we registered a missing complaint,” Datta Nalawade, deputy commissioner of police, Zone 10, said.

Senior inspector Yogesh Shinde said that the police first tried to contact Siddhi, but his phone was switched off. “Through technical investigation and on-ground enquiries at Thane railway station, we got an address where he was not present. Only his old grandmother was living at that house,” he said.

As the grandmother couldn’t tell them about Siddhi’s current address, they asked her to call another relative who helped with the same. By the morning of August 6, the police located the girl and arrested Siddhi. After interrogating him, the police tracked down Mohod and arrested him on Wednesday. Currently, the two are in police custody.

“Before the girl was reunited with her family, she was counselled by experts from the Child Welfare Committee. During the sessions with them, she later revealed the details of the sexual assault. Based on her statement, Siddhi and Mohod were booked under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 354 (sexual assault) of the Indian Penal Code as well as the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act,” said DCP Nalawade.