The mother has alleged that apart from the accused, his wife, her own house owner and another woman, tried to hush up the incident. (Representational)
A 38-year-old man was arrested on Wednesday in Mumbai for allegedly sexually assaulting a four-year-old girl, his neighbour.
The girl’s mother has alleged that three women were trying to cover up the incident and called for their arrest. The Nagpada police, however, said their roles have not been established in the investigation so far.
According to the FIR, the incident took place after the girl’s mother, a commercial sex worker, left the house around 8 am and asked a woman, whose room she rented, to look after her daughter.
In her statement to the police, the woman said that when she returned home around 11 am to check if her daughter had eaten, she found her sleeping. “When I woke her up and asked if she had eaten, she told me that her private parts were paining and that the uncle living next door had done dirty things to her,” the statement added.
Her woman then called up her relatives and approached the Nagpada police station. While the accused was arrested, the girl underwent a medical examination at JJ hospital, confirming rape.
The mother has alleged that apart from the accused, his wife, her own house owner and another woman, tried to hush up the incident.
Speaking to The Indian Express, the woman said, “My daughter told me that a woman, our neighbour, had called her to their house under the pretext of giving her something to eat. Later, she left leaving the four-year-old alone with her husband, who sexually assaulted my daughter. When a boy in the neighbourhood saw what was happening, he told the wife of the accused, our house owner and another woman, but they told him to ignore it.”
She alleged that even when the girl told the accused’s wife about the incident, she told her to forget about it. “They too had a role to play in the crime and should be arrested.”
Senior Inspector of Nagpada police station, Chandrakant Bhosle, however, said that while they have found no evidence of the involvement of the three women, they will be named in the FIR if any evidence comes up. “We have arrested the accused and he is in police custody,” he added.