A tragic incident of a 5-year-old minor girl being sexually assaulted by a middle-aged man has been reported in the Umarkhed area of Yavatmal on Tuesday this week, 18 days after the incident purportedly took place. The accused named Sheikh Usman Daula, who is 50 years of age, is currently on the run. The police have filed a case against him under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.
According to the reports, the incident took place on May 8 in the Sanakwadi area of Umarkhed. The minor girl was raped when she had gone to the accused’s barn to fetch milk. A few days later, the video clip of the sexual assault came to the fore, sparking outrage in the region. Soon after the video of the sexual assault surfaced, the parents of the victim rushed to the police station and filed a complaint against the accused. A large crowd gathered outside the Umarkhed police station, seeking immediate arrest of the accused and a case filed against him.
However, even since his video of the sexual assault came out, Sheikh Usman Daula is absconding. The police raided his barn, but he was not there. A case has been filed against Daula under relevant sections of the A case has been registered against the accused under 376 A, B of the Indian Penal Code and Section 4, 8 of the POCSO Act. The police have intensified their search operation to nab the accused.
Rising crime against minor girls in Maharashtra
Crime against minors has steadily increased in Maharashtra. Police on Friday arrested a 26-year-old man on charges of raping a minor girl in the Palghar district of Maharashtra. The incident took place on May 24 when the man raped the minor girl after threatening her with a knife at Navghar in Bhayander town on Mumbai’s outskirts.
An FIR was filed against him at the Navghar police station under relevant sections of the IPC and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act based on a complaint by the victim’s mother. The police, during its probe, received a tip-off that the accused, a resident of Bhayander, was planning to escape to Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh from Kurla station in Mumbai, it said.
In January this year, a five-year-old girl had been allegedly raped and killed by a man in Maharashtra’s Nanded district. The accused had taken the girl to a riverside where he allegedly raped her and then strangled her.
In January itself, another shocking incident of gang rape was reported from Maharashtra’s Nashik district. A 13-year-old girl was brutally gang-raped by 6 people, including a minor boy. All the accused were arrested, along with a woman, who allegedly helped the accused in the crime.