Two held for gangraping 12-yr-old in Ghatkopar

MUMBAI: Shivaji Nagar police have arrested a man and a minor on February 2, for raping a 12-year-old girl in Ghatkopar on January 24. The accused has been identified as Jumman Mushtaq Qureshi, 22. The accused was produced in court, and was remanded in police custody till February 8, while the minor was sent to the juvenile remand home in Dongri. Qureshi resides in Shivaji Nagar, Govandi while the minor is from Ghatkopar. According to sources, on the night of January 24, the girl was scolded by her mother. Upset, the girl left home and went to a dark lonely spot. Qureshi, who knew the girl, saw her alone and took her to the minor's house in Ghatkopar. The duo then raped her repeatedly after brutally assaulting her. When the girl failed to return home that night, her family started to look for her and the next day, they approached the Shivaji Nagar police station to file a missing complaint. Police registered a case against unidentified persons under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for kidnapping (363). On February 1, when the accused moved the girl to another place in Ghatkopar, police received a tip-off from a person in the neighbourhood about the girl and the two accused. The Crime Branch's unit six managed to rescue the girl. “The two accused have been arrested for sexual assault under the sections of 4, 6,8 and 12of Protection of Children From Sexual Offences Act (POCSO), rape (Section 376), gangrape (376 D) and criminal intimidation (Section 506) of the Indian Penal Code. Investigations are still under way,” said Deepak Pagare, senior police inspector, Shivaji Nagar police station.