Kamal Ghorui
CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR: A 17-year-old girl was allegedly kidnapped from her home at a village in Beed district on the night of March 10, raped and later left tied to a pole in the village chowk throughout the night. The Pimpalner police on March 13 arrested the survivor’s former boyfriend (29) based on her statement.The police said the survivor and the suspect belonged to families of sugarcane cutters. The incident came to light early in the morning of March 11 when some villagers spotted the survivor tied to the pole and alerted her husband, who reached the spot. The survivor was taken to her marital home, while her husband went to the Pimpalner police station to report the incident.Inspector Madhusudhan Ghuge of the Pimpalner police said on Sunday, “We told the survivor’s husband on March 11 to bring her to the police station, but he did not come back thereafter. Instead, the survivor reached the police station on March 13, along with her mother and uncle, and recorded her statement. She named her former boyfriend from the same village as the culprit. We then arrested the suspect based on her statement.”Ghuge said, “The survivor told us in her statement that she had left the door of her house open in the night because it was hot. Her husband and father-in-law were asleep. Taking advantage of this, the suspect entered the house, picked up the girl and pressed her mouth to ensure that she did not raise an alarm. He took her near the riverbed on the outskirts of the village and raped her.”Beed superintendent of police (SP) Navneet Kanwat said “We arrested the suspect immediately after receiving a complaint. The suspect is in police custody till March 17. From the initial investigation, it appears that the survivor had an affair with the suspect before she got married.”Assistant police inspector Atulkumar Landge, who is investigating the case, said, “We referred the survivor and the suspect to a govt hospital for medical examination. Its reports are awaited. We have invoked Section 4 (penetrative sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and sections 137 (2) [kidnapping], 333 (trespassing) and 64 (2) [i] rape of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) in the case.”Inspector Ghuge said, “We are investigating the case from all angles to clear certain ambiguities arising from the initial statement by the survivor’s husband and the charges levelled by the survivor against her ex-boyfriend, a bachelor.”(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
