4-year-old girl kidnapped, sexually assaulted at Pune Railway Station; accused held

A 24-year-old man was arrested for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 4-year-old girl at Pune Railway Station, after gaining her family's trust.

The Pune Railway Police have arrested a 24-year-old man for kidnapping and sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl on the Pune Railway Station premises on February 17, officials said on Saturday.

The family met the accused in the train to Pune as they were traveling home. (REPRESENTATIVE PIC)

According to the police, the girl and her family hail from Madhya Pradesh and work in Solapur. The family met the accused in the train to Pune as they were traveling home. He acted friendly and helped them carry their bags to gain their trust.

Since the family had to wait a long time for their next train, they decided to sleep on platform number three. At around 1.30 am, the girl’s father woke up and saw her missing. When the family did not find their daughter after frantic search, they alerted the police. CCTV footage showed the accused leading the young girl away by hand. He was nabbed within an hour and the minor was rescued.

The girl told her parents that the man promised to buy her snacks to make her go with him. After the mother found blood on the child’s clothes, police conducted a medical test and doctors confirmed that the child had been sexually assaulted.

Pramod Khopikar, senior inspector, Government Railway Police (GRP), Pune said, “The accused gave false information about his identity and name; hence, necessary additional sections were invoked in this case.”

Pune Railway Police have registered a case against the accused under Sections 137(2) (kidnapping), Section 65(2) (punishment for the rape of a woman under twelve years of age), 217 (giving false information) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Sections 4, 6, 9 and 10 of the of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.