Hindustan Times (Patiala)

Shelter home director raped 5 more girls: Police

THE ACCUSED WAS ARRESTED EARLIER THIS WEEK FOR RAPING A MINOR GIRL FROM THE SHELTER HOME, SAY POLICE

- Nadeem Imamdar letters@hindustant­imes.com

The director of a Nashikbase­d shelter home, who was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly sexually assaulting a minor from the facility, has now been booked for allegedly raping five other girls of the institute, police said on Sunday.

Harshal More, who ran a private shelter home for children from the tribal community at Mhasrul, was arrested earlier in the week on the charges of raping a 14-year-old girl from the shelter home.

According to police, a relative of the complainan­t went to meet her at the shelter home and she informed him about the alleged assault.

Police said the incident happened on October 18 and the relative approached the cops on November 23 after which More was booked under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, relevant sections of the Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and The Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, police said.

As part of the investigat­ion, police approached other minors staying at the institute and five of them said that 32-year-old More had sexually assaulted them too, police said.

“After more rape survivors recounted their experience, we registered five separate FIRs under different sections of IPC and Pocso. The FIRs were registered at Mhasrul police station,” said Kirankumar Chavan, deputy commission­er of police from Zone 1.

More, who has been remanded in police custody till November 30, set up the facility in 2018. It currently housed 13 girls and 14 boys, whose parents are mostly daily wage labourers, officers said. The police are also checking if More had the requisite permission­s to run the shelter home, officers familiar with the matter said.

After the case came to the fore, Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) Maharashtr­a Mahila Morcha chief, Chitra Wagh, sought an audit of all the shelter homes across the state.

“The police have filed six FIRs and arrested main accused in Nashik case. Previously too, there was a murder of a fouryear-old at Trimbakesh­war facility. Considerin­g these instances, there is a need for an audit of all shelter homes across Maharashtr­a,” she said.

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