Govt cook held on charge of raping 7-year-old girl in Pune

PUNE: A cook was arrested on Friday night, a day after he allegedly raped a seven-year-old girl in the residential area of a government establishment on Thursday night.
The Vishrantwadi police produced the 35-year-old cook, a government employee, before a special court on Saturday.
He was sent to custodial remand till April 11.
The rape survivor is a student of Standard II. The student and the cook were known to each other, the police said.
Senior inspector Dattatraya Bhapkar of the Vishrantwadi police on Saturday said, "The girl and her friends were playing in a garden when the cook, a grade-four employee, reached the spot. He then engaged the girl in conversation and wooed her to accompany him."
He said, "The man took the girl behind the garden, allegedly raped her and fled. The rape survivor later went home, but she was so scared that she did not disclose the incident to her parents immediately."
"On Friday, the mustered courage and narrated the gruesome incident to her mother. The girl's mother, with the assistance from some residents of the area, approached the police for help," the senior inspector said.
Bhapkar added, "We arrested the cook following a complaint related to rape was lodged by the Standard II student's mother under the Indian Penal Code and the stringent Protection to Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act."
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)