On Wednesday (20th December), Maharashtra Police booked an individual identified as Siju Sheikh for br sexually exploiting a minor girl and threatening her with death. The wife of the accused, identified as Sofiana Sheikh has also been booked by the Police for harassing the girl and her family and threatening them with death. The incident is said to have happened in the Somvar Peth area of Maharashtra’s Pune district.
The accused persons have been booked under sections 376(2)(n) (rape), 377, 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 506 (criminal intimidation), 34 of the Indian Penal Code and sections 8, 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012.
As per the FIR copy obtained by OpIndia, the victim has been facing harassment at the hands of the accused since the year 2016. The saga began when the accused and his mother shifted to an apartment owned by the victim’s father. The accused had been staying in the space on rent and eventually developed good relations with the landlord’s family including the girl.
As per the complaint, in the year 2016, the accused once invited the girl who was in school at that time. He called her when he was alone at his home. He deceptively asked the victim to take her clothes off so that he could click derogatory pictures of her. For years, he used those pictures to blackmail the victim and sexually exploit her.
The victim girl at present works in a call center and mentions in the FIR that she has been raped by the accused and harassed by his wife multiple times. The victim has complained that she has been raped by the accused after being made to drink a spiked liquid.
Narrating the ordeal, the victim who is currently 19 said, “In the year 2022, I took admission in Pune’s Desai College for Commerce first year. Siju and I hadn’t met after school. Suddenly he began following me to the college. One day he stood outside my college gate and tried to talk to me. I ignored but he followed me and forced me to talk. He blackmailed me saying that he had derogatory photos of me that he would show to my family if I refused to talk to him. I got scared and so I agreed to talk to him.”
“He also informed me that he was married to Sofiana but wasn’t living with her and that he wanted to establish sexual relations with me. I clearly refused but he again threatened and blackmailed me to agree to him. He took me to a lodge in the Katraj area and fed me some spiked liquid. He then threatened me to take my clothes off and established sexual relations with me against my will. He also physically assaulted me and later he dropped me back at my college gate,” she added.
The victim in the FIR stated that the same incident happened to her 7-8 times but she could not inform her parents about it given that she was scared. The incident came to the fore only after the wife of the accused booked by the police exposed the man and threatened the victim and her family.
On 19th December, Sofiana barged into the victim’s home and showed her father the derogatory pictures of the girl. She also threatened the family members saying that she would kill the girl for keeping relations with her husband. It is then that the victim narrated her ordeal in front of her family members and sought help.
The victim said that the accused also hit her and physically assaulted her whenever she refused to agree to cooperate with him. The Pune Police have taken cognizance of the event and have booked the accused for sexually assaulting a minor girl and threatening her with death. The wife of the accused, Sofiana has also been booked by the Police.
Pune district in Maharashtra is witnessing a rise in the cases of sexual harassment and assault against minor and young victims. Yesterday, on 19th December it was reported that a South Korean vlogger Kelly was harassed by a Pune resident, originally from Bidar in Karnataka. The accused was arrested after he inappropriately and forcefully hugged the victim in the city market. The video of the incident is making rounds on social media.
Also in August this year, it was reported that a 26-year-old Hindu from Beed was sexually harassed by one Amir who later converted the girl to Islam. The victim was raped and threatened with death. The detailed report of this case can be read here.
The FIR has been filed at the Samarth Police Station based on the complaint filed by the victim and her father. Further investigations are underway.
