Mumbai crime: Man arrested for molesting child

A Nine-year-old girl was allegedly molested by the owner of a flour mill inside the mill compound in Ghatkopar on Friday night.The incident occurred in Ghatkopar. The mill owner, Vijaykumar Goud, has been arrested.

According to initial investigations, the accused lured the girl inside the mill and molested her. Speaking to Sunday MiD DAY, officers investigating the case said the girl was playing outside the mill around 10.30 pm on Friday. According to the complaint lodged by the girl's parents, the accused observed her playing alone and called her inside on the pretext of giving her a toy and molested her.

An officer from Ghatkopar police station said, "Goud is a flour mill owner in the Asalfa area. According to the complaint, he called the girl inside the mill after and forcibly removed her clothes. He allegedly started touching her private parts and tried to rape her before the girl started screaming and managed to escape."

After the ordeal, the girl ran back home and reported the incident to her parents. Shocked at what their daughter told the, the parents rushed to the local police station and reported the matter to the police. They registered an FIR soon after.

Thankfully the cops acted immediately, dispatching a team of police personnel to the mill where Goud was still sitting. The accused was brought to the police station and booked under sections 354 (assault or criminal force used on a woman) of the Indian Penal Code as well as under Sections 8 and 12 of the Child Protection Act.

Goud was produced in the Vikhroli court on Saturday and has been remanded to police custody till December 6. When contacted, an officer of the Ghatkopar PS added, "Initially the parents of the girl said that the accused may have raped their daughter but we have got the medical reports and doctors have confirmed that while the injuries suggest she was assaulted, there is no indication of rape."u00a0