A 17-year-old girl was allegedly molested by her stepmother on a number of occasions at their residence in suburban Parel, the police said on Wednesday.
An FIR was registered in Kalachowki police station last night. Although the police still has not arrested the woman, Sandhya Gawkar (43), who was allegedly sexually abusing her stepdaughter for the past two years, it is investigating the matter.
The victim was allegedly first molested by her stepmother in 2013 during her vacation and it had been going on for some time. She was subsequently abused on different occasions when her two sisters and father were away, the police said.
According to the girl, the woman would allegedly enter the bathroom when the girl was taking bath and start touching her as if she was bathing her. The girl found it unnatural, but had ignored it, the police said.
“The girl could not bear the sexual harassment by her stepmother. For the past two months, whenever the girl used to be alone at home, her stepmother would tell her to try on different dresses and while doing so, would to touch her inappropriately,” a police official said.
“Later, she started seducing her and kissed her. Finally, the girl narrated the incident to her sisters. Before that she had informed her maternal aunt and father, but they only laughed at her,” the police official added.
Two days ago, the girl had put her foot down saying she would not return home. This led to a heated argument between her stepmother and father and the matter was brought to the notice of the police.
The girl claimed she was thrashed by her stepmother and threatened with dire consequences if she revealed the offence to anybody.
The matter was brought to the notice of Kalachowki police which registered an FIR 354 molestation, 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO Act), 2012.
