5-year-old raped in Bhandup, 35-yearr-old lured girl away for ice cream, arrested

The Kapurbawdi police on Sunday arrested a man for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl and dumping her at a secluded place in Thane. The girl was found by a local resident who alerted police Saturday evening. The accused has been identified as Suman Nandkumar Jha (35), who used to work nearby the girl’s residence in Bhandup. “According to the girl, he lured her away from her house by promising her ice-cream. He told her he would take her to get an ice cream and took her to Azaad Nagar in Thane,” said a senior officer from Kapurbawdi police station.

The girl was rescued by the police when they were alerted by a local resident in Brahmand area. “We got a distress call. When we reached the spot, the girl could barely walk and was lying on the side of the road. We took her to the police station where a lady officer questioned her,” said the officer. According to the police, the girl said she lived in Bhandup and was brought to the Brahmand area by Jha. She even took the police to the spot where she was raped. “He took her behind a factory where there is an outgrowth of shrubs and trees. Under this green cover, she was raped until she lost her senses, after which she was dumped in Brahmand,” said the DCP Sunil Lokhande.

“We immediately deployed four teams to look for the girl’s parents and to find the accused. The girl gave us a fair description of the man. She also told us her address and we reunited her with her parents,” said DCP Lokhande. On Sunday afternoon, police finally arrested Jha from his house in Thane. “He was arrested and interrogated. He has confessed to his crime. We shall present him in court Monday. It is probable that he has raped multiple girls. We are interrogating him. We have also circulated his picture to other police stations if it matches their record,” said a senior officer.