The police has arrested a 50-year-old man from Badlapur township in the district for allegedly raping his granddaughter.
The 18-year-old survivor, who lived with her parents Jaipur in Rajasthan, had come to Badlapur last month to stay with her grandparents for some time, Badlapur (East) police station’s senior inspector D P Rajbhoj said on Thursday.
On July 1, when her grandmother went out for some work, the accused locked the girl inside the house. He then allegedly pushed her to the ground and raped her, he said.
The girl’s grandparents are construction labourers who keep moving from one place to another for work, he said.
On the night of July 3, the traumatised girl escaped from her grandparents’ house. In a bid to go to her parents’ home in Rajasthan, she boarded a local train from Badlapur and then came to .
The Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel on duty at Bandra station spotted her and upon enquiry, she told them about her ordeal, Rajbhoj said. The RPF personnel then took her to the Thane police.
On July 4, the Badlapur police in Thane registered an offence against the accused under IPC sections 376, (for punishment of rape), 323 (for voluntarily causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation), he said.
The accused was arrested yesterday morning. He was produced in a Thane court which remanded him in police custody till July 7, the officer said.
The girl has been sent to a rehabilitation centre in Bhiwandi. The police yesterday got in touch with her parents and informed them about the incident, he said.