Abandoned baby’s father arrested

Hours after the police booked a 15-year-old girl for abandoning her month-old boy in a residential complex in July, they arrested a 35-year-old juice centre owner on charges of raping a minor and abandoning a baby.

Hours after the police booked a 15-year-old girl for abandoning her month-old boy in a residential complex in July, they arrested a 35-year-old juice centre owner on charges of raping a minor and abandoning a baby.

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The Tilak Nagar police arrested the baby’s father, identified only as Joshi, on Wednesday night. The girl has been sent to the Mankhurd remand home.

Inspector Vilas Shinde said: “The girl claimed last year when she was passing by his juice centre, he forcibly took her to his house, gave her a spiked drink and raped her.”

The accused, however, told the police that he became acquainted with the girl because she would pass his shop and they had an affair for over a year. He confessed to having a sexual relationship with the accused but claimed it was consensual.

Having a sexual relationship with a minor with or without consent amounts to rape as per law. The police will send the DNA samples of Joshi and the infant for testing.

“Last year, he was arrested with slain gangster Farid Tanasha for beating up a man who teased a girl from the area,” Shinde added. HTC