Man arrested in Gujarat for sexually assaulting girl in Maharashtra two days earlier

A man allegedly sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl in Maharashtras Palghar district and fled to Surat in neighbouring Gujarat, from where he was arrested two days later, police said on Saturday. During a probe, the police found that the 28-year-old accused, who hails from Rajasthan, had also allegedly molested another girl a few months back in Palghar, an official said.

A man allegedly sexually assaulted a seven-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Palghar district and fled to Surat in neighbouring Gujarat, from where he was arrested two days later, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred on Tuesday at Achole in Palghar, they said. During a probe, the police found that the 28-year-old accused, who hails from Rajasthan, had also allegedly molested another girl a few months back in Palghar, an official said. ''Around 12.30 pm on February 13, the accused entered the victim's building and forcibly took her to the terrace, where he committed unnatural sexual assault on her,'' senior inspector Shahuraj Ranavre of crime unit-II in Vasai said. Based on a complaint lodged by the victim, a case was registered under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 377 (unnatural offences) and 363 (kidnapping), and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act at Achole police station, he said. ''The crime branch officials formed a couple of teams to trace the accused. They checked the CCTV footage of the locality and found that he lived in a slum colony in Nalasopara in the district. As per the intelligence inputs, the police came to know that the accused was travelling by Ajmer Express,'' he said. A police team followed him and nabbed him in Surat with the help of the local crime branch officials within 48 hours, he said. ''During his interrogation, it came to light that the accused had dragged another seven-year-old girl in Nalasopara to an isolated place and tried to molest her,'' Ranavre said. A case under IPC section 354 (assault or use of criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage her modesty) and the POCSO Act was registered at Tulinj police station in connection with that incident, he said.