PUNE: An autorickshaw driver allegedly kidnapped a six-year-old girl from a family of footpath dwellers on Sanjay Gandhi Road near Pune railway station and raped her in a commercial building near Parvati during the wee hours of Thursday. The incident comes close on the heels of a 14-year-old girl’s gang-rape case.
According to police, the kidnapping occurred at 1.30am. “We were able to nab the suspect and rescue the girl from the commercial building within two hours of the kidnapping due to some vital clues provided by another autorickshaw driver, who had seen the suspect picking up the girl. He even followed the suspect for some distance before losing his trail,” deputy commissioner of police (zone II) Sagar Patil said.
“The autorickshaw driver had noted down the registration number of the suspect’s vehicle and passed it to the police,” Patil said.
“The girl has been admitted to the Sassoon General Hospital for medical examination,” the DCP said, adding that a case under the relevant sections of the IPC and the POCSO Act has been registered. Senior inspector Yashwant Gawari of the Bund Garden police told TOI, “The arrested autorickshaw driver, Sagar Maruti Mandhre (39), is a resident of Katraj. He has a valid permit and driving licence.”
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
