The mother of the victim lodged a complaint with University Police Station in the wee hours on Monday, alleging her nine-year-old daughter was raped by Kamlesh alias Murli Bharwad on Sunday evening.
A nine-year-old was allegedly raped and sodomised by a neighbour after luring the victim to his home in the pretext of watching television programmes in Shashtrinagar area of Gujarat’s Rajkot late on Sunday. Police said medical examination of the victim was going on even as the accused was arrested on Monday.
The mother of the victim lodged a complaint with University Police Station in the wee hours on Monday, alleging her nine-year-old daughter was raped by Kamlesh alias Murli Bharwad on Sunday evening. “The accused forced himself on my daughter when she went to his home to watch television programme. He let go of my daughter after called her name out loudly after not finding her around for a long time. When I inquired, my daughter told me what had happened with her and also added that the accused had sexually assaulted her two weeks ago also,” stated the mother in her complaint.
Later, the complaint was transferred to Mahila police station of the city. The Mahila police station booked Bharwad for rape, unnatural sex, outraging modesty of woman and uder the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Police said Bharwad was next-door neighbour of the victim. “The house which the victim’s mother has hired on rent is owned by the accused’s uncle. Being neighbour, the victim used to visit the accused’s house frequently. On Sunday, the mother saw the girl coming out the accused’s home. When the mother asked the accused what her girl was doing there, he said he was playing. But then, the child told her mother that he had assaulted her and had threatened that she will beat her up if she told anything to her mother,” University police inspector Manish Chandrawadiya said on Monday.
Hours later, police arrested Bharwad from a hotel in Raiya area. Police said that the 24-year-old accused was working at an automobile show-room and was unmarried.
Meanwhile, the Mahila police station said that the girl had been sent to Rasulkhanji Zanana Hospital. “We have sent her to the government hospital for medical examination and we shall come to know of the nature of attack once her medical records are available,” police inspector Prabhudas Sapra, who is in-charge of the Mahila police station said.
Police further said that the mother of the victim was widow and the girl was her lone child. The mother works as domestic help while the child victim is studying in Class-II.
Incidentally, six persons, including a juvenile were arrested by police last month for allegedly repeatedly raping an 11-year-old girl in the city.