45-year-old held for raping 15-year-old step-daughter
More than five months after he raped his 15-year-old step-daughter, impregnating her in the process, a 45-year-old man was arrested by the Kashimira police on Thursday.
The accused (name withheld to protect the identity of the girl) married the girl’s mother last year and the family stayed in a makeshift tenement at a construction site in Mira Road.
According to the police, the accused raped the girl after serving her a cold drink laced with liquor earlier this year. Under the influence of alcohol, he repeated the act on multiple occasions, till the girl became pregnant.
The accused registered a complaint with the police in May this year, pressuring the girl and managing to pass the blame of rape on an innocent neighbour. Thereafter, her pregnancy was medically terminated.
An FIR was registered in this context but no arrests had been made so far. When senior police inspector Vilas Sanap recently reopened the case, ensuring that this time around, the victim was questioned in a more sensitive manner, the investigating team got hold of the culprit, who was none other than her step-father.
The accused, who confessed to the crime, has been booked under section 376 of the IPC and under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. The district sessions court, Thane, remanded him to police custody till September 30. Further investigations are on.