Two men arrested for gangraping social media friend

MUMBAI: The police on Monday arrested two men for allegedly gangraping a 16-year-old girl repeatedly since September 2 and blackmailed and threatening her to release the videotape if she goes to the police

MUMBAI: The police on Monday arrested two men for allegedly gangraping a 16-year-old girl repeatedly since September 2 and blackmailed and threatening her to release the videotape if she goes to the police.

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According to the officers, the girl is a resident of Malad and had met one of the accused Anees Shaikh, 23 through social media in August and had become friends with him. She told the police that on September 2, Shaikh called her to Nalasopara to spend an evening with him. When the girl went to meet him, Shaikh took her to a lodge and raped her against her will. He also shot her video and later used it to blackmail her to keep quiet about the incident.

The girl, who was scared, did not tell her parents or anyone else. However, a few days later Shaikh called her again. He took her to a garden where he introduced her to his friend named Ziyan Khan. The two men then took the girl to a lodge near Arnala Beach in Virar where they raped her, said a police officer.

After this, the two men called the girl several times and raped her taking turns. On Saturday, the girl who was not feeling well, was confronted by her mother when she revealed her ordeal to her. The parents of the girl then approached the Arnala police and filed a police complaint against the two men. The case was later transferred to the Nalasopara police station as the girl was sexually assaulted in their jurisdiction for the first time.

Based on the girl’s complaint, the police arrested Shaikh and Khan and booked them for gangrape under section 65 (1) (rape of a minor), 74 (criminal force to female), 137(2) (kidnapping), 115(2) (intention to cause harm), 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanita and sections 4, 7, and 12 of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The officer said that they would be produced before a special POCSO court on Tuesday for remand.

This is the sixth gangrape case reported in Nalasopara this month. The first of these cases was registered on September 3, 2024, when a woman who came in search of work was gang-raped by two men at the Dhaniv Bagh locality of Nalasopara.

The second incident took place on September 9, 2024, when a 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by two locals in Shirdinagar in Nalasopara during Ganeshotsava. On September 21, 2024, a 22-year-old resident of Nalasopara was gang-raped by a political party member and his accomplice after spiking her drink and the politician’s wife allegedly shot the act on her mobile phone. On the basis of the woman’s complaint, the Achole police registered a case of gang rape.

The fourth incident took place on August 22, 2024, when a 17-year-old girl was gang-raped by two people in the Dhaniv Bagh area of Nalasopara. In the fifth incident, a 32-year-old woman was gang-raped by two men at knifepoint on September 15, when she was on her way to pick up her son from school in Nalasopara.