On Saturday (September 11), the Kalyan Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested a 35-year-old man for physically assaulting and raping a minor girl near the Ulhasnagar railway station in Mumbai.
As per a report in the Times of India, the accused has been identified as Shrikant Gaikwad aka Dada. The victim, a 14-year-old girl, was returning home on Friday along with three friends. They had gone to Shridi and were using the Ulhasnagar skywalk to return home at around 10 pm. Gaikwad, a history-sheeter, threatened the minor girl with a hammer and pulled her into a room in the railway quarters. He then brutally assaulted the victim and inflicted injuries on her head. The girl was also subjected to rape and was allowed to leave only on Saturday morning.
On informing the matter to her family, she was taken to the local Hill police station in Ulhasnagar. However, instead of registering a First Information Report (FIR), the cops asked them to go to the Vithalwadi police station citing ‘jurisdiction issues’. The victim and her family members were then directed to visit the Kalyan GR, where a case of rape and assault was finally registered at 2 pm. Besides the relevant Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, charges were also invoked against the accused under the Prevention of Child Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Maharashtra | Man arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old minor girl in Ulhasnagar railway station premises. Case registered under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and POCSO Act
— ANI (@ANI) September 12, 2021
After having made the victim’s family scout from one police station to another, the cops swung into action and arrested Shrikant Gaikwad by evening. While speaking about the matter, a Kalyan police official conceded, “After the accused allowed the girl to leave in the morning, she first approached Hill Line police station and then Vithalwadi police station where she was instructed that since the crime had occurred in our jurisdiction, she should go to our Kalyan GRP station.” Senior police inspector Valmik Shardul confirmed the accused’s arrest under charges of rape, assault and the POCSO Act. Gaikwad is a resident of Ulhasnagar and has multiple criminal cases lodged against him.
Lawlessness in Maharashtra, 9 cases of rape occurred in recent days
People are enraged by the lawlessness in Maharashtra, which has emboldened criminals to perpetrate such heinous atrocities without fear of being caught by the authorities. However, the Ulhasnagar rape case is only one of the many such crimes that have been committed in the state of Maharashtra in the recent few days. In fact, recently, there has been a spate of gruesome and horrific rape cases in the state and in most cases, the perpetrators are roaming scot-free. At least nine such cases have been reported in the last few days in Maharashtra. One such gruesome case that recently made headlines was the brutal rape of a 30-year-old victim in Mumbai’s Sakinaka area in Andheri East on Thursday night (September 9).
