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Man arrested for abducting, sexually assaulting minor girl near Kurkumbh
PUNE: Pune rural police have arrested a 27-year-old man for abducting and sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl near Kurkumbh in Pune district
PUNE: Pune rural police have arrested a 27-year-old man for abducting and sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl near Kurkumbh in Pune district.
The incident was reported on May 16 on Pune-Solapur highway near Kurkumbh which falls in the Daund police station jurisdiction. The accused, identified as Navnath Chnadrakant Rithe from Sherechiwadi in Phaltan, was arrested by the police with the help of alert locals. The police said that the accused is an ‘on-record’ criminal and had been booked in a similar case in 2010 at the Loni Kalbhor police station where he spent eight years behind the bars.
According to the First Information Report (FIR) registered at Daund police station, the minor girl along with her grandfather had gone to purchase groceries. While returning, the accused approached them and offered to drop them at their doorstep.
Gopal Pawar, senior police inspector at Daund Police station, said, “When they were returning home, suddenly, the grandfather asked Rithe to wait as he had to purchase something. Taking advantage of this, the accused kickstarted his motorcycle and abducted the minor girl and raped her in a sugarcane field in Malad village.’’
The girl’s cries of desperation alerted passersby who informed the police. Immediately, the accused was beaten up by locals and handed over to the police.
Daund police officers arrived swiftly, arrested the accused on the spot, and formally charged him under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. Rithe now remains in custody, and investigators have pledged to expedite medical care, counselling and support services to the victim.
