Minor schoolgirl kidnapped, gang-raped in Maharashtra

In a shocking incident, a 13-year-old schoolgirl was allegedly kidnapped and repeatedly gang-raped by three persons in Risod town in Maharashtra's Washim district, officials said here on Monday. 

The alleged crime took place on August 20 and the Risod Police lodged an FIR the following day after the girl returned home and informed her parents about her ordeal.

After recording her statement, the police took the girl for a medical examination which confirmed the atrocities committed on her.

The police immediately launched a man-hunt for the accused trio and nabbed them last Thursday (August 22).

Washim Superintendent of Police Anul Tare told IANS that based on the minor girl’s statement and medical reports, the police have arrested the three accused for the heinous crime.

They have been charged under the relevant sections of the law dealing with kidnap, rape, and other crimes, Tare added.

The accused have been identified as Pandhari Phupate, Suryabhan Phupate, and Ganesh Phupate -- they are not related to each other -- aged between 23 and 25 years.

As per the girl’s police statement, on the evening of August 20, she was playing outside her home in the Mungsaji Nagar area of the city when the Phupate trio accosted her.

The trio allegedly took her to a small shanty in a deserted hilly area near Mungsaji Nagar where they took turns to repeatedly violate her throughout the night.

The next day, they allowed her to go and after she reached home and narrated her ordeal, the family lodged a police complaint.

The three accused were produced before a court in Washim which remanded them to judicial remand, Tare added.

In view of the sensitive nature of the case, the Washim Police have appealed to the locals to report any suspicious activity to the police for prompt action.

The Washim case follows a string of incidents against minor girls that have rocked the state in the past fortnight, including the sexual assault on two four-year-old girls by a sanitation worker at a private school in Badlapur in Thane district.

Under fire from the Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi, the MahaYuti government has initiated a series of measures to prevent similar gruesome crimes from occurring in the future.