Auto driver held for molesting 8-year-old in Kandivli

Samta Nagar police traced and arrested a 22-year-old rickshaw driver on Saturday evening, for allegedly stalking and molesting an eight-year-old girl in Kandivli

Samta Nagar police traced and arrested a 22-year-old rickshaw driver on Saturday evening, for allegedly stalking and molesting an eight-year-old girl in Kandivli (East).

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The arrested accused, Harish Mishra, lives in a slum pocket adjacent to where the eight-year-old girl resides.

On Friday, around 7.30pm, the minor and her 11-year-old friend were going to a building in Ashok Nagar to attend dance classes. The accused spotted her near the gate of the building and followed her inside.

“While she was taking the stairs, he caught her leg and pulled her towards him. The second girl ran upstairs while the eight-year-old freed her leg from the man’s grasp and ran behind her,” said Raju Kasbe, senior inspector, Samta Nagar police station.

The accused fled from the spot but his face was captured by the CCTV camera inside the building.

The girl narrated the incident to her dance teacher who informed her parents and they approached the Samta Nagar police station.

A first information report (FIR) was registered under sections 354 (criminal force or assault on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty), 354 D (stalking) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and sections 4 (penetrative sexual assault) and 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Based on the image of the accused, a woman sub-inspector from Samta Nagar police station spotted Mishra during a nakabandi near Kandivli railway station on Saturday evening, and arrested him.

“The accused was produced before a sessions court on Sunday and has been remanded in police custody till March 11. He does not have a criminal record,” said Kasbe.