Palghar man on the run for months held for repeatedly raping his daughter

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Police have arrested a Palghar man, who had been on the run for the past few months after being booked for allegedly repeatedly raping his 22-year-old daughter and impregnating her in Palghar district of Maharashtra, an official said on Saturday, reported news agency PTI.

His daughter, whom the accused raped multiple times from 2021, died in November last year at a hospital during her tuberculosis treatment, he said.

"The 53-year-old accused resided in Nalasopara. He was on the run since the last several months after a case was registered against him for allegedly raping his daughter between 2021 and November 2023. He also impregnated the victim and thrashed her, which led to her miscarriage," senior inspector Pramod Badakh said, reported PTI.

"The victim was admitted to a hospital in a serious condition on November 14 last year for treatment of tuberculosis. However, she died there on the same day," he said, adding that her mother then lodged a complaint against the accused, reported PTI.

The complainant alleged that besides her daughter, the accused beat her up as well.

Based on a complaint, an offence was registered at the Nalasopara police station under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 376(2)(n) (repeated rape on the same woman), 354A (sexual harassment), 342 (wrongful confinement), 312 (causing miscarriage), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 504 (intentional insult) and 506 (criminal intimidation) in November last year, he said, reported PTI.

The crime branch formed a special team to trace the accused and the team members worked on several leads before finally nabbing the Palghar man from Virar township in the district on February 7, the official said, reported PTI.

During his interrogation, it came to light that the accused kept changing places. He was hiding in Aurangabad and Mumbai, he added.

In another incident, a man was arrested in Thane district allegedly with ganja, charas and hashish worth Rs 31.45 lakh, a police official said on Friday, reported PTI.

Rushabh Sanjay Bhalerao (28) took drug supply orders on Instagram and couriered the contraband home, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shivajirao Patil said, reported PTI.

"A Crime Branch Unit V team led by Senior Inspector Vikas Ghodke nabbed him from Indira Nagar in Wage Estate area on a tip off on Wednesday. We seized 3.2 kilograms of ganja worth Rs 30,200 from him at the time," the DCP said, reported PTI.

"A search of his house yielded 60.5 kilograms of ganja, 290 grams of charas and 19 small bottles with hashish oil cumulatively valued at Rs 31 lakh. It was the first time hash was seized by Thane police," the official added, reported PTI.

Bhalerao was remanded in police custody till February 12 and probe was underway to unravel the peddling network, the DCP said.

(With inputs from PTI)