Neighbour lures teenager with money, rapes her

Using her poverty as bait, a man lured a 16-year-old girl to a shanty in Andheri (East), where both he and his friend raped her on Tuesday night.

Using her poverty as bait, a man lured a 16-year-old girl to a shanty in Andheri (East), where both he and his friend raped her on Tuesday night.

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Originally from Gujarat, the victim, a resident of Gaondevi Dongar in Andheri (West), had been living with her maternal grandmother ever since her father remarried following her mother’s death a few years ago, police said. Her uncle was funding her education.

The police said the main accused, Bilal Shaikh, 45, convinced the girl to go along with him by promising her money so that she could help her grandmother run the house. “The victim is very poor and the family lives a hand-to-mouth existence. The accused used this as bait,” said an officer from DN Nagar police station, on condition of anonymity.

Shaikh then took the girl on his bike to a shanty in Marol, owned by his friend and co-accused, Riyaz Shaikh, 45. While Riyaz is a driver, Bilal is a mechanic. “Her uncle’s friend saw and recognised her while she was on the bike and realised something was amiss. He followed them on his bike and saw him entering a shanty with the girl. He then called the police,” said Vijay Bhoite, senior inspector, DN Nagar police station.