Eight-yr-old ‘sexually assaulted’ by serving Army jawan in moving train, later found on tracks in Satara

An eight-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by an Army jawan inside the toilet of a moving train, and later thrown out of the train near Lonand in Satara district. Despite serious injuries and trauma, the girl was able to provide an accurate description of the man that helped in his arrest within a few hours of the incident on Tuesday, police said.

According to police, the girl was found injured on the tracks between Lonand and Salpa railway stations around 6 am on Tuesday. Police said the girl showed courage and gave all information possible in her condition that helped them arrest the suspect.

The man, who is a serving jawan, assaulted the minor inside a train going from Goa to Delhi, and threw her out when she tried blocking him, police said.

A team from Government Railway Police (GRP) in Miraj moved the girl to a hospital. After preliminary treatment for a leg injury, police started speaking to her and she told them that she boarded the train from Goa for Delhi with her two siblings and parents.

Police said after finding out in which train the family was travelling, they informed ticket collectors on the train, who informed the girl’s family around 7.30 am. The family was unaware about the missing child until then as they thought she was sleeping on the upper berth of their compartment, police added.

After gathering preliminary facts, police teams identified and arrested the suspect, while the probe revealed that the incident took place around 1 am and the girl was on the tracks for at least five hours before she was found. The jawan was inebriated at the time of the incident, police said.

A police official said, “Based on information provided by the girl, we identified the train. The girl also gave us some concrete clues on the description of the suspect. By noon, the train had reached Ahmednagar station. We ordered a closure of compartments of the train and, between Ahmednagar and Bhusawal stations, our teams scanned the compartments for the suspect. We zeroed down on four persons matching the description and, subsequently, identified the suspect, who is a serving Naik and currently posted at a military unit in Uttar Pradesh. He has confessed to the crime and has been placed under arrest. We also made arrangements for the family to come to Satara to be reunited with the girl.”

The officer added, “Solving this case would not have been possible without the courage shown by the girl in spite of her trauma and injuries. She did not just fight back, but also gave us details. She was on the tracks for five hours. Having said this, there were also lapses on part of Railway Protection Force personnel, whose responsibility was to provide security to the compartment. We have come to know that many people in the compartment, including the suspect, were consuming alcohol on the journey. An inquiry needs to be conducted into these lapses too.”