Mumbai: A 46-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly sexually exploiting his niece for the past five years. Police officials said the arrested accused, who resides in the same vicinity as the girl, took advantage of her helplessness as her father was arrested in 2016 for killing her mother.
According to officials, the accused used to support the three financially, as they had no source of income.
The 20-year-old complainant presently lives with her grandmother and brother. The girl, who dropped out of school, alleged that the accused, a real estate broker, started sexually assaulting her in 2017 and has been abusing her since then. The sexual assault came to light after she narrated her ordeal to her elder brother.
They then approached Mulund police station and a case under provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 was registered based on their complaint.
A police team then visited the residence of the accused and found out that he had left for his native place in Satara. A police team then went to Satara, nabbed the accused and brought him to Mumbai on Thursday. He was produced before a metropolitan magistrate court and remanded to police custody.
“The survivor in her complaint alleged that the accused took her to a hotel in Andheri, where he raped her. She said he thereafter raped her on multiple occasions at various places, including the hotel and her home for the past five years,” said assistant police inspector Santosh Kamble of the Mulund police station.
“The accused is said to have video graphed some of the acts and we are questioning him to recover the video and will also verify the crime scene in Andheri and check if he had submitted any identity proof while booking the room,” added Kamble.