SURAT: A five-year-old girl was raped by a 34-year-old man in Pandesara area on Saturday night. The man who is the girl’s neighbour lured the survivor with the offer of a banana and committed the crime. The girl’s mother informed the police control room.
Later on Saturday night, Pandesara police arrested Dinesh Prajapati (34), a resident of Radha Krishna Society in Pandesara after registering an offence under different sections of IPC, including 376 (rape), 363 (kidnapping), 342 (wrongful confinement), and also different sections of POCSO Act. Prajapati is the father of three children.
According to the police, the girl’s father (36) is a daily labourer and works in a nearby factory. The man has three children (two daughters and a son) and the family lives in Pandesara.
Accused Prajapati also lives in Pandesara with his wife and three children (two daughters and a son). His wife is four-month pregnant and has gone to her native place in Uttar Pradesh for delivery. He knows the survivor’s family and the children of both the families also pay together.
On Saturday, around 8:15pm, the girl was playing in a lane behind her house. At that time, Prajapati who was passing by that road saw the little girl and told her that he would give her banana. Then he took her to an abandoned place and raped her.
The girl did not know what was happening with her but when she returned home, her mother found something suspicious.
When the mother checked the girl’s clothes, she was shocked. She immediately informed her husband about the incident and also made a call to the police control room.
A team from Pandesara police rushed to the spot and took the girl for treatment. After preliminary investigation, police arrested Prajapati for the crime.
(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court directives on cases related to sexual assault)
