Mumbai: A 26-year-old man has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment for sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl in January 2019. The convict and his friend, who is also an accused, but remains fugitive, had taken the victim along on the promise of a job opportunity and raped her.
As per the case registered at the MIDC police station, the girl was studying in a government school at the time of the incident, but dropped out later. On January 24, 2019, she had left the house and when she didn't return till afternoon, her family started searching for her. They approached one of her friends, who informed that the girl had gone on a bike with the duo.
The family members launched a frantic search and kept looking for the girl in Andheri, Kurla, Bandra the whole night. Next day, they widened the search ambit and went around CSMT, Dadar, Reay Road and Kalyan, but in vain. At around 07.30pm, they got a call from a woman, who said that the victim was found crying outside the Mumbra station.
When found, the teen revealed that she met the duo at her friend's house before going along with them. The girl claimed that they roamed around till night and later rented a room in Mumbra. She further said that while the other friend had left in the morning, the convict stayed back and raped her. He later abandoned her on the road, she added.
However, the victim told a different version in her testimony. She said that she was approached by the man's friend, who took her on bike to Milind Nagar, Powai, on the pretext of a job discussion. The teen claimed that it was there she met the accused, after which they went to Mumbra.
