Surat: A 46-year-old autorickshaw driver was booked on Monday at Varachha police station for allegedly raping a 15-year-old schoolgirl multiple times in the past few months. The accused was hired to take the girl to school from her house and back and it is between the journeys that he committed the crime.
The minor girl was thrashed by the accused if she resisted him. The accused also had taken objectionable pictures of the girl with his mobile phone which he threatened to upload on social media if she dared to complain to anyone about him. The accused is yet to be arrested because he is hospitalized after he consumed a poisonous substance on June 27 to end his life along with wife and mother-in-law fearing police action.
Hitesh Raju Sarasiya, a resident of Begampura, has been booked for rape and sexual assault under Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO). Police inspector M P Patel of Varachha police station has begun investigation in the case after the girl lodged rape complaint against the autorickshaw driver.
Sarasiya is reported to be critical and placed under medical observation in the intensive care unit of a hospital. His wife Meena and mother-in-law Manju are also under treatment and their condition too is critical.
The three had consumed a poisonous substance after they came to know that the girl with her parents had met the police commissioner and demanded action against Sarasiya.
Police investigation revealed that the girl had eloped with two youths in June. The girl’s family had lodged a missing person’s complaint at Mahidharpura police station and soon cops located her. Medical examination of the girl confirmed rape but she said the two boys did not rape her. The girl said she was raped multiple times by Sarasiya.
“The rape complaint was registered at Varachha police station since the incident happened under its limits. The accused took the girl to isolated locations and raped her there,” said a police officer at Varachha police station.
Police investigation revealed that Sarasiya and the girl’s family were on good terms. The rape survivor’s family had no bathroom in their house and therefore used to take bath at Sarasiya’s residence.