Ramabai Nagar tense after toddler’s rape

15 year old boy has been arrested for allegedly raping a five year old girl at Ramabai Nagar in Ghatkopar. HT reports

15 year old boy has been arrested for allegedly raping a five year old girl at Ramabai Nagar in Ghatkopar (East).

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The boy was arrested on Wednesday and sent to the children's remand home at Mankhurd after the girl's parents lodged a complaint with the Pant Nagar police.

As news of the incident spread, locals came out in protest and forced shops in the vicinity to shut down. A large number of policemen have been deployed in the area since Wednesday night to avoid trouble. Officers investigating the case said the incident occurred on July 24 when the accused and the victim, who are neighbours, were at home.

The boy is a class 9 student while the victim studies in a municipal school in Ghatkopar. "The accused asked the girl to accompany him and since she knew him, she agreed. He took her to the vacant transit camp in the area and allegedly raped her," said a police officer.

“Her mother took her to a dispensary after the girl complained of pain. The doctor examined the child and told her mother that he suspected she had been raped," said newly appointed Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone VII) Sanjay Shintre.

When the girl's parents learnt it was their neighbour's son who had allegedly raped their daughter they were hesitant to lodge a police complaint. Local activists, however, encouraged them to go to the police, which they finally did on Wednesday. "We arrested the boy a few hours after the complaint was lodged," Shintre said.

When locals learnt about the incident, some groups called for an impromptu bandh in protest. "Bandobast was deployed in the area from Wednesday night and on Thursday morning shops in the area downed shutters fearing violence," Shintre said. "The situation is under control now.”