19-year-old youth booked for raping 4-year-old girl

A 19-year-old has been arrested by Dindoshi police for raping a four-year-old in his house on Thursday night.

The accused, Suraj aka Surya Mandal, works in a local hotel and stays where the victim lives with her parents in Vadaripada, Gokuldham, Goregaon east.

According to the police, on Thursday night, the girl’s father, a vada paav vendor, was at work while her mother, a homemaker, had stepped out for some work. At around 10.30 pm, Mandal realised that the girl was home alone and went to her place, luring her with chocolates. Once she was inside his house, he raped her.

Later, the girl returned home, bleeding profusely. Locals gathered around the house even as she confided in her mother about the incident, pointing a finger at Mandal. No sooner, the locals beat up Mandal and later handed him over to the police. Medical test reports confirmed that the girl had been raped. While her condition is now stable, Mandal has been booked under various sections of IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Later on Friday, as many as 40 residents of the chawl where the incident occurred gathered at Dindoshi police station, protesting the rape and demanding verification of all single boys in the vicinity. A local, Vijay Kumar Bora, told The Asian Age, “At least 40 to 50 single boys stay in our area belonging to various parts of the country. They live here alone for work. After the rape, we fear a repetition of such incidents so we want police verification of all these boys in our neighbourhood.”