Kidnapped Mumbai teen rescued from Kolhapur, 23-year-old arrested

Bandra police on Wednesday arrested a 23-year-old photographer for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl from Bandra. The accused befriended

Bandra police on Wednesday arrested a 23-year-old photographer for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old girl from Bandra. The accused befriended the survivor on a social media site, posing as a wealthy man looking to marry her.

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Nikhil Kapse senior inspector attached to Bandra police said, “We have arrested the accused from Kolhapur after a month-long chase. The girl has been rescued and handed over to her parents.”

According to police, on August 30 they received a complaint from a woman claiming her daughter had gone missing, after which a case of kidnapping was registered against an unknown person.

Sandip Jadhav, sub-inspector, Bandra police station, said that during the investigation they came to know that the kidnapper was in Pune. However, by the time the police team reached there, he had fled with the survivor.

“We started questioning his friends, and one of them revealed that he might be in Kolhapur, his hometown. We took the help of our technical team and managed to reach his exact location at Kolhapur. On October 7, we nabbed him and rescued the survivor safely,” Jadhav added.

After she was rescued, the survivor revealed that a year and a half ago, she met the accused on a social media app, and the two became friends. Last year she informed the accused that she was visiting Pune to attend a wedding. The two met and became romantically involved.

The accused told her that he belonged to a rich family and wanted to marry her. On August 30, he kidnapped her from Bandra.

“When she reached Pune, she was shocked to find out that the accused’s father was a vegetable vendor and his mother worked as a domestic help,” said the officer.

“During the investigation, police came to know that the accused has a history of conning girls and women. In 2019 he refused to marry a woman he had befriended and the woman later committed suicide. He was arrested by Chinchwad police for abetment to suicide and spent four months in jail in that case,” Jadhav added.

Bandra police arrested the accused under section 363 (kidnapping) and 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 4 (punishment for penetrative sexual assault), 8 (punishment for sexual assault) and 12 (punishment for sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.