Goa: Gujarat man arrested for kidnapping minor girl

PANAJI: The Old Goa police on Saturday arrested a person from Gujarat accused of allegedly kidnapping a minor girl with the intention of marrying her.
Police inspector Satish Padwalkar informed that a team of Garbada police station contacted the Old Goa police station to trace Harish Bhai, the accused.
Padwalkar said that in coordination with the Gujarat police, they managed to narrow down the location of the accused around St Cruz.
Three teams of Old Goa police were formed and nabbed the accused at Bambolim. The Gujarat Police took the accused in their custody for investigation.
“It is tradition in some parts of Gujarat to take away girls and get them to marry forcibly. Once it is done, subsequently the matters are settled within families and marriage is accepted in most cases,” Padwalkar said.
However, in this case, such a possibility is ruled out as a petition was filed in the high court by the victim's father. This forced the accused to hide for three months and change locations along with the victim, Padwalkar said.