A man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a minor girl from the Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Tuesday.
While the 14-year-old girl was rescued from her abductor’s house in Poonch district, the accused was arrested from a locality in Jammu within three weeks of the incident, a police spokesperson said.
He said the minor’s father had complained to the Reasi Police Station on December 28 last year, stating that her minor daughter went outside to buy milk from a shop but did not return, suspecting that she might have been kidnapped.
A case was registered, and an investigation started, revealing that the minor was kidnapped by Shakeel alias Sonu, a resident of Poonch, the spokesperson said.
The official added that the senior superintendent of Police Reasi Shalinder Singh constituted a special team headed by a sub-inspector to rescue the abducted minor.
With the help of Poonch Police, the team raided several places and rescued the girl from the house of Shakeel, who, however, managed to escape, he said.
He said a board of doctors conducted the victim’s medical examination, and the minor’s statement was recorded before the Judicial Magistrate.
Based on the victim’s statement, offences under section 376 of the IPC (rape) and section 4 of the Protection of the Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act were established and added in the instant case, the spokesperson said.
He said the girl was reunited with her family after completing legal procedures.
The police team finally arrested the accused from the Belicharana area of the Jammu district, the spokesperson said, adding Shakeel is already married to a woman of Pouni (Reasi) and had left her sometime back.
Police are being regularly briefed to remain sensitive towards crime against women, especially minors.
