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Pune railway police arrest three for raping minor girl in Jhelum Express
The Pune railway police on Saturday said that they have arrested three persons, including railway pantry staffers, in connection with the alleged rape of a minor orphan girl in Jhelum Express on July 19
The Pune railway police on Saturday said that they have arrested three persons, including railway pantry staffers, in connection with the alleged rape of a minor orphan girl in Jhelum Express on July 19.
Police inspector Pramod Kopikar said that the three culprits have been identified as per the description given by the victim. The accused include a pantry supervisor and a pantry staffer.
“The victim could only remember that one of the accused had a tattoo on his hand and special teams were formed to find the culprits. As pantry staffers usually reside along the railway lines, we initiated search operations at Ghorpadi and arrested them,” Kopikar said.
According to the police, the 14-year-old orphan girl mistakenly boarded an air-conditioned (AC) coach of Jhelum Express at Bhopal on July 19. Later, the accused pantry staffer questioned her and threatened that the police will catch her for ticketless travel. The accused took the girl to the pantry car on the pretext of offering her food and raped her. The victim deboarded at Bhusawal junction. An NGO worker saw the crying victim at the railway station and handed her over to the railway police.
As per the information shared by the girl, police suspected that the accused are railway staffers and would be wearing clothes bearing the name “A 2 Z House Keeping”.
Pune railway police formed a search team after knowing about the incident. Sadanand Wayse Patil, superintendent of police, Pune railway police, said, “As per the information received, we picked 13 suspects. After interrogation, we arrested the accused from Ghorpadi.’’
A case has been registered under Sections 376 of the Indian Penal Code and Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act on the night of July 19. The accused were handed over to the Bhopal railway police for further investigation.
