Sexual crimes against minors are rising unabated across the country. A 20-year-old man was arrested on 16 April on charges of having raped a 9-year-old girl multiple times in the last fortnight, Rajkot police said.
The accused, Kamlesh ‘Murli’ Bharwad, who is an employee of the Punjab Honda showroom in Rajkot has pleaded guilty to all charges. He last raped the girl, his neighbour, on 14 April, Rajkot Mahila Police Station Sub Inspector YN Leuva told The Quint.
The little girl’s mother, who works as domestic help, told The Quint that when she returned home from work on the evening of 14 April, her daughter was playing near the house. I called out her name but she did not respond, she said, adding that she then saw the girl leave the neighbour’s house in tears. “I asked her what had happened, and she narrated the whole incident,” she said. “When I asked her if this was the first time, she said it had happened twice before. Each time she was threatened to not tell anyone about it,” she said.
Accused Arrested
A case has been lodged under sections 376, 377, 354, 354 A(1-3) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under sections 6 and 10 of the Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
The accused was arrested by Gandhigram University Police in Rajkot and the case was transferred to the Rajkot Mahila Police. Bharwad, who lives with his father, is engaged to be married. He has two brothers who are married and live in the vicinity.
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