The NM Joshi Marg Police arrested a 19-year-old youth for allegedly marrying and subsequently raping a minor teenager. Acting on the girl’s complaint, the police also arrested her relatives and the man’s parents along with a Muslim cleric in the case.
According to the police, on Sunday, three weeks after the marriage, the 13-year-old girl approached the NM Joshi Marg police and narrated her ordeal after which they registered an offence. The accused were arrested under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections for rape of a woman under 16 years of age ( 376 (3)) and criminal intimidation (506) along with the relevant sections of Protection Of Children from Sexual Offences (POSCO) Act and Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, said the police.
The teenager, a native of Madhubani in Bihar, had come to Mumbai in January this year after the demise of her parents. The girl was staying with her distant aunt at Lower Parel, who brought her as a house help.
Around three weeks ago, the aunt allegedly married off the teen with another youth from their locality in the presence of a Muslim cleric. In her statement to the police, the victim alleged that the person to whom she was married had raped her multiple times.
Soon after the incident was reported, the police arrested the youth, his parents, the victim’s aunt, her woman friend and the cleric, said a police officer. During questioning, the accused denied the marriage. However, we have ascertained that the marriage had taken place, said an officer on the request of anonymity. The accused were produced before the court, which remanded them to police custody, added the officer.
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