Grandad held for raping 5-yr-old, wife abetted crime

WHEN THE CHILD COMPLAINED TO HER GRANDMOTHER, THE LATTER FEIGNED CALLING THE GIRL’S MOTHER, BUT DID NOT LET HER TALK DIRECTLY

Gurgaon Police arrested a 64-year-old man, accused of raping his five-yearold granddaughter, from Mumbai airport on Wednesday evening. His 59-year-old wife was also held on charges of abetting rape and hiding it from the victim’s mother.

The accused were trying to leave for London, when a threemember team of Gurgaon Police nabbed them after a tip-off from the immigration authorities.

The duo was brought to Gurgaon on Thursday and sent to judicial custody in Bhondsi jail. A case against the two grandparents was registered under Section 6 and Section 10 of the Pocso Act, along with Section 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC.

“The accused were caught by our team from the airport while they were waiting for a flight. They wanted to escape the country as they were anticipating arrest in the case. Earlier, a team from the women police station had gone to Jamshedpur and found their house locked and alerted us. Following this, we intensified our search for the couple. A red corner notice had been issued against the accused earlier,” said inspector Kailash, station house officer, women police station, who directed the entire operation.

Kailash said that the victim’s mother, who is the couple’s daughter-in-law, should be appreciated for ensuring that a case was registered against the grandparents despite opposition from the family, including her husband. “Without her efforts, this case would not have come out in the open,” said the inspector.

The victim’s family stays in Sector 59, Gurgaon. They originally hailed from Jharkhand’s Jamshedpur. The grandfather, retired from a private company as an engineer, was financially well off and stayed in Jamshedpur.

According to the victim’s mother, who had filed the complaint with the women police station in Sector 51 on June 28, the grandfather took advantage of the girl during her stay in Jamshedpur, and he was aided and abetted by his wife.

On March 2016, when the accused visited their home in Gurgaon, the victim’s mother caught the grandfather misbehaving with the girl, but the matter was dropped as her husband told her it was just a matter of parental affection.

Later, on December 2016, the grandparents persuaded the victim’s parents to send the child to their home to spend vacations. The victim’s father, who worked with a Gurgaon-based company, dropped the girl at Jamshedpur and she stayed there between December 28 and January 5.

During this period, the accused allegedly committed rape and aggravated assault three times, the girl’s mother alleged. She claimed that after the girl returned to Gurgaon, her behaviour changed drastically and she constantly complained of stomach ache. However, it was her teacher who identified the real problem during a session with the girl, and informed the parents about the possibility of such a heinous act.

The entire incident was revealed when the victim was taken to a leading private hospital in Gurgaon on April 2017. When examined, it was revealed that she was suffering from acute urinary tract infection. On questioning, the girl revealed the entire incident.

She alleged that when the girl complained to the grandmother, she feigned calling her mother, but never allowed their interaction on the phone. The accused, when confronted by the complainant, also threatened that they would destroy their life if they approached the police in this matter.