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Navi Mumbai auto driver arrested for raping 12-year-old girl
Navi Mumbai police, on Tuesday, arrested a 30-year-old auto rickshaw driver from Osmanabad for allegedly raping a minor girl and fleeing the city. The accused had
Navi Mumbai police, on Tuesday, arrested a 30-year-old auto rickshaw driver from Osmanabad for allegedly raping a minor girl and fleeing the city. The accused had deliberately told his friend that he was going to Pune to throw the police off his scent.
The accused, identified as Vijay Rathod, a resident of Turbhe, raped a 12-year-old girl staying in his neighbouring chawl on Sunday at around 6.30pm. Rathod’s wife was not at home during which time he lured the minor into his house and sexually assaulted her, said police.
After raping the girl, Rathod immediately fled the area, leaving the girl traumatised. When the girl’s mother found her sitting aloof, she inquired about her health. The minor broke down and confided in her mother about Rathod. The girl’s family then informed Turbhe MIDC police.
Knowing that the police would inquire his friends and family, Rathod told his friend that he was taking a bus to Pune to send the police on a wild goose chase. Searching for him in the city limits, police did not find him. They sent an alert at Sukapur toll booth in Panvel and another at Pune borders to look out for buses while circulating Rathod’s pictures.
When Rathod could not be traced, police figured out that it was merely a false lead.
The accused had also switched off his phone to go incognito. But, based on technical analysis, police found an unknown number calling Rathod’s wife between Monday and Tuesday. Rathod is originally from a village on the outskirts of Osmanabad. As the number was also calling from the same district, police dispatched a team to Umarga in Osmanabad, tracing him there.
“By the time our team reached Umarga, he fled to Holi village in Lohara. We followed him outside the village and found him hiding in a sugarcane field. After a brief chase, our constables apprehended him and brought him back to the city,” said Pawan Nandre, assistant inspector at Turbhe MIDC police station.
Rathod has been booked for rape under sections of Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.
Police said they were looking for Rathod’s criminal records, if any. Officials will also interrogate him to check if he had attempted to molest or rape the girl in the past. Police will also check if he had targeted any other children in his residential area.
