Two minor girls raped in Nagpur; father held case in Ganeshpeth, youth arrested in Wadi

Nagpur: Two cases of sexual assault on minor girls have come to light in the city, in the Ganeshpeth and Wadi police station areas, raising serious questions once again about the safety of minors. In Ganeshpeth, a 14-year-old girl was raped by a man described in the source as her father. In Wadi, a 23-year-old man raped a 10-year-old girl. Wadi police have arrested the accused, while Ganeshpeth police are investigating the case.

In the Ganeshpeth case, the girl's mother was admitted to Daga Hospital for childbirth. The mother is said to have been married three times and currently lives with her second husband. During this time, her third husband approached the girl and asked her to go with him to a lodge in Cotton Market on the pretext of giving her a meal. He took her to the lodge and forcibly had sexual relations with her.

The girl told her second father about the incident after reaching home, but got no response from him. Hurt, she ran away from home and boarded a train to go to her biological father in Madhya Pradesh. The second father meanwhile filed a missing person complaint with police. On police information, the Government Railway Police (GRP) recovered the girl from the train at Gondia station.

During questioning before the Child Welfare Committee, the girl narrated what had happened to her. Gondia GRP then registered a case under the POCSO Act and for rape, and handed the investigation to Ganeshpeth police, who have begun further inquiries.

The second incident occurred in the Wadi police station area. A 10-year-old girl from a family of labourers working at a building under construction was raped by Rameshwar Baliram Uike, 23. The girl lives with her parents and other labourers in a hut at the construction site. Most of the labourers had gone to their villages for Diwali.

On November 11, the girl's mother had gone to work. Taking advantage of the opportunity, the accused went there. He sent the girl's brother, who was of similar age and with her, out of the hut and then forcibly had sexual relations with her. The accused also threatened to kill her if she told anyone.

When her mother returned, the girl told her everything, and the mother filed a complaint with Wadi police. Police registered a case against Uike under the POCSO Act and for rape, and arrested him.