22-year-old shopkeeper held for molesting minors
Shopkeeper arrested for sexually molesting two minor girls in Navi Mumbai. One victim belongs to Scheduled Caste. Accused lured girls to shop, assaulted them.
Navi Mumbai: Two minor girls aged 10 and 11 years, one of them belonging to Scheduled Caste (SC), were sexually molested by a shopkeeper in Turbhe. According to police officials, on Tuesday, following a complaint registered with the Turbhe Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation (MIDC) Police, Vikas Shivlakhan Rastogi, 22, a shopkeeper was arrested for sexually assaulting the minors.
The girls, both known to each other, had been to the market for shopping purposes on Saturday when they were lured by the accused, Rastogi. According to the complaint, the accused invited the girls to help him fold the clothes in the shop.
The complaint further details the perverse manner in which the girls were subjected to sexual assault. The minors were initially apprehensive about disclosing the details to their parents. However, they eventually shared the nature of the assault with their parents on Tuesday. Subsequently, the father of the 11-year-old filed a case with the Turbhe police.
The accused was booked under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and since the 11-year-old minor belonged to SC, the case was also registered as per the Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act and Indian Penal Code. As per the protocol for cases involving the SC community, the investigation is being conducted by an Assistant Commissioner-ranked officer. “The accused was arrested on Tuesday night immediately after the FIR was registered. Further investigations are ongoing,” said Assistant Commissioner of Police (Turbhe division) Rahul Gaikwad.
