MUMBAI: The Mumbai police have registered a case against two people who allegedly kidnapped and raped a 14-year-old girl in a moving taxi.
According to the police, the victim girl had a fight with her family members and decided to go to Malwani in Malad to meet her relative. Seeing her alone, a taxi driver asked to drop her off at Malwani, after which the victim girl started going with him towards Malwani. The accused driver took the taxi to Dadar where he made accused Salman Shaikh sit with him and started moving ahead.
Meanwhile, after getting information about the girl’s disappearance, the family members of the victim girl contacted the Malabar Hill police station and informed them about the kidnapping. A case was registered as she was underage. Police started a technical investigation and found that the girl had gone to a relative’s place in the Malad area.
“A team was sent there to bring back the girl and we started investigating as soon as we got the news of her missing. However, the situation became serious when the girl revealed what had happened to her while on her way to Malad”, police said.
A police officer further said that there were two men inside the taxi, one of whom was the driver and the other was the person who raped the girl in the rear seat. Different teams were formed to investigate the taxi through various methods including CCTV footage.
According to the police, the incident allegedly took place between Dadar and Malad. Police confirmed that the two accused have been identified as Shriprakash Pandey, a taxi driver, and Salman Shaikh, aged between 25 and 27 years, respectively. Police said that the accused Salman Shaikh works in a hotel in Dadar.
Based on the statement of the victim, the police registered case under Section 376 of IPC and related POCSO sections. The police produced them in court which sent them to police custody till September 25. (ANI)