2 gang-rape minor, nabbed within 8 hrs

A 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by two men in an isolated area in Chembur’s Vashinaka area on Friday. Two accused were arrested on Saturday and were charged for

A 14-year-old girl was gang-raped by two men in an isolated area in Chembur’s Vashinaka area on Friday. Two accused were arrested on Saturday and were charged for gang-rape under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

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According to the police, the girl, who lived with her father and an elder brother in Bharat Nagar area of Chembur, had gone to Ashok Nagar to buy some eatables at 8.30pm on Friday. “When she was passing through an isolated area, the two accused gagged her and took her to a deserted place and took turns to rape her. Since it is an isolated area no one could hear the minor’s screams,” said a police officer from RCF police station.

After the girl returned home crying, her father asked what happened, following which she narrated her ordeal. The father immediately took her to the police station, following which the police registered an FIR and launched a manhunt. Meanwhile, the minor was sent to a government hospital for medical examination.

“The girl told us that while communicating with each other the accused called each other Rocky and Sunny. Based on this, we mobilised our informers in the area and launched a manhunt. With the guidance of superiors, we tracked down the duo within eight hours. Rocky and Sunny are their aliases,” said inspector Jitendra Sonawane.

The two accused, Bhagirath Kisan Jethe alias Rocky, 25, and Ramesh Patil alias Sunny, 24, are residents of Ashok Nagar, Vashinaka in Chembur.

Sunny is an auto-rickshaw driver while Rocky is unemployed.

The two have been charged under sections 376-i (raping a woman aged below sixteen years), 376-j (raping a woman incapable of giving consent), 376D (gang-rape) of the IPC and sections 4 and 6 of Pocso Act.