Man gets life in jail for brutally raping 5-year-old Mumbai girl in 2014

The doctor told the court that a 90-centimetre broom was pushed 25 centimetres into the girl’s private part.

A 30-year-old man was sentenced to life imprisonment on Tuesday for sexually assaulting a five-year-old girl in 2014. A special Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) court in Dindoshi found Ali Mohammed Shaikh guilty of kidnapping the child, raping her and grievously injuring her by inserting a broom into her.

The girl’s lower body was covered in blood and a broom was in her private part, when her grandmother found her. (HT Photo/Representational Image)

The incident took place in August 2014. The girl lived with her mother and grandmother on a footpath in Kandivli. On August 21, the women woke up to find the girl missing. When they were looking for her, the grandmother found the child dragging herself outside a nearby chawl. Her lower body covered in blood and a broom was in her private part. She was rushed to a hospital, where she underwent treatment for six months.

The Kandivli police registered a first information report (FIR) and Ali was arrested 11 days after the incident based on closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage of nearby areas. Ali’s wife and the girl’s mother had helped identify him. Ali was known to the girl’s mother. He had introduced himself as Anand. In her testimony in court, the mother said Ali would pursue her. “When I refused, he told me to send my daughter,” the mother said.

Eleven witnesses, including the doctor who treated the child and the owner of the house where the girl was found, gave their statements to the court.

The doctor told the court that a 90-centimetre broom was pushed 25 centimetres into the girl’s private part. The minor’s anklet was recovered outside the house and bloodstains were found in the verandah — both helped police tighten their case against Ali.

Special public prosecutor Usha Jadhav said, “The accused not only raped the girl but also, out of revenge, inserted a broom. It is a stain on humanity.”

However, defence counsel Sunita Nandewar, appearing for Ali pleaded for leniency saying, “The accused has already spent five years in jail and has a young daughter.” The court also ordered a compensation of ₹6,000 to the survivor.