Thane police rescue teenage girl abducted from Bihar for prostitution; accused arrested

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Thane police on Thursday foiled an attempted human trafficking case, rescuing a 15-year-old girl who had been transported from eastern Indian state of Bihar to Maharashtra's Thane to force her into prostitution.

Quoting an official, newswire PTI reported that Thane police laid a trap near a hotel in the Wagle Estate area and caught a 26-year-old man from Aurangabad district with the teenager. He was identified as Shravankumar Sudhama Choudhary.

According to Shivraj Patil, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime), Choudhary allegedly brought the minor from Bihar with the sinister intent of involving her in prostitution.

A case has been registered against Choudhary under the Indian Penal Code, Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, he said, adding that the girl has been sent to a rescue home, police said.

Meanwhile, a court in Thane acquitted three men in a gangrape case citing lack of evidence.

Additional sessions court judge Amit Shete acquitted the three accused, Fletcher Dalmet (24), Searock Munis (24) and Parag Soj (27) on January 16. The copy of the order was made available on Thursday, newswire PTI reported.

The first information report (FIR) in this connection was filed at Uttan Sagari police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 376 (2) (n) (repeated rape on the same woman), 376-D (gang-rape), 354-B (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to disrobe), and 417 (cheating).

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The accused had committed the offence from 2017 to November 2018, the prosecution said.

During the trial, the prosecution argued that the accused had committed the sexual offences against the 24-year-old woman, but the defence denied all charges.

After examining four witnesses and various documents, the court observed that the evidence presented was not strong enough to establish the charges against the accused.

The court said the testimony of the complainant lacked credibility and no corroborative material supported the allegations. The prosecution failed to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. (With inputs from PTI)