70-year-old held for raping 11-year-old girl multiple times in Mumbai

After the survivor’s father fell asleep, the accused, who is her father’s friend, would rape the minor

The police on Sunday arrested a 70-year-old man for allegedly raping an 11-year-old girl multiple times in Goregaon (West). Police said the girl knew the accused as he was her father’s friend.

The accused has been sent in police custody. (Photo for representation)

The survivor and her father were staying with her paternal grandmother while the girl’s mother was away. The accused, a ration shop owner, was known to the minor’s grandmother. He befriended the girl’s father and would buy him alcohol.

The two would drink together every night and after the father fell asleep, the accused would go to the first-floor room where the girl slept. He would then take off her clothes and rape her.

On February 2, at around 2am, the girl called her mother.

She said, “I am feeling very scared. Please come and take me home.” She also told her mother that she was sleeping next to her grandmother lately.

However, she did not reveal that the accused had been sexually attacking her.

The girl’s mother approached Goregaon police and a first information report was registered under section 376 (punishment for sexual assault) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault), 8 (sexual assault) and 12 (sexual harassment of a child) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act. The survivor has been sent for a medical test. “We produced the accused before a sessions court. He has been sent in police custody,” an officer from Goregaon police station said.