Mumbai: Girl, 17, left with one child in hand, looking for another

More than a dozen people including a tantric doctor lab technician social activist and school principal have been booked in a POCSO case where a 15yearold girl was impregnated by her boyfriend in 2022 The accused allegedly conspired and sold the infant for Rs 4 lakh within 24 hours of the deliveryA team of Mira Bhayandar Vasai Virar MBVV police is investigating the case The father of the baby Mahendra Sutar was arrested by the Achole police on Tuesday Nalasoparabased social activist Vidya Jadhav told midday ldquoThough the survivor was too feeble to protest at the time When she asked why strangers were taking custody of the child against her wishes she was told by the accused that her toddler would be returned after she became an adult But nothing happened as suchrdquoDr Kalpana Warang in whose hospital the sonography was done right Dr Warangrsquos assistant Riya ThakurldquoTwo years down the line she was engaged to be married to a young man However she got pregnant for the second time before tying the knot and her wouldbe inlaws refused to go ahead with the ceremony At the age of 17 the survivor became the mother of two children with two different men Though her second child with her the first is yet to be foundrdquo said Jadhav who has been assisting the survivorFirst pregnancyldquoThe survivor started dating Sutar in 2022 when he was 23 years old and she was only 15 She told me that it became evident that Sutar had impregnated her a few months into the relationshiprdquo added JadhavldquoDisturbed on learning about the situation her parents got in touch with a baba Santosh Jha alias Mama who took them to Sangeeta Thorat who runs a school in Nalasopara and is also a local member of the police dakshta committee After listening to the parents Thorat called Sutar and talked to him in a room on the premises of her schoolrdquo she addedHarish Bhosale and right Gaurav Gohil who were roped in by ThoratldquoLater Thorat told the survivor and her parents it was not possible for the girl to marry Sutar as he belonged to another community Thorat then roped in two menmdashGaurav Gohil and Harish Bhosalemdashto consult one Dr Kalpana Warang at RK Hospital where a sonography was conducted and they learnt that abortion was not feasible as the teenager was in her seventh month of pregnancyrdquo said the activistJadhav was further told by the survivor that she was asked to sign a few documents by Thorat and her gang members including her assistant Riya Thakur ldquoBut the survivor could not understand what documents she had signed as they were in Marathirdquo she saidThe alleged childsnatcherAfter a few weeks the survivor delivered a baby girl at Warangrsquos RK Hospital on September 24 2022 in Nalasopara where Gohil and Bhosale were asked by Thorat to introduce a new character Nisha Jagtap to the survivorSantosh Jha alias Mama whom the family got in touch with after learning of the pregnancy right Afreen Shaikh social activistAccording to the FIR Jagtap walked into the hospital on September 25 and took her baby girl ldquoAt the time when her baby was being taken away the survivor tried to resist at the hospital But a lab assistant at the hospital Dipali Parmar told the survivor that she did not want any chaos on the hospital premises and she allowed Jagtap to carry the infant awayrdquo activist said ldquoParmar allegedly told the survivor that the child would be returned to her when she was no longer a minorrdquo she addedRevelation about payoffSix months down the line the survivor happened to come across Sutar on Instagram When she asked him why he did not agree to marry her despite knowing that she was pregnant Sutar replied that had been told to cough up Rs 4 lakh and stay away from her ldquoSutar said that he transferred Rs 4 lakh to Riya Thakurrsquos friendrsquos bank accountrdquo Jadhav saidThe survivor apparently asked her parents about the whereabouts of her baby but the latter failed to give a valid response Later the survivorrsquos parents planned to marry her off The engagement took place late last year and the duo started to meet frequently and had physical relations During this period the survivor conceivedSangeeta Thorat accused who runs a school in NalasoparaThe survivorrsquos wouldbe inlaws did not have any issue as the engagement had happened and the couple were to tie the knot But trouble began when her fianceacute Rahil Khan learnt that she was already a mother and her parentsmdashin connivance with Thorat and her gang membersmdashhad allegedly sold her childldquoThe survivor was abandoned by her fianceacute and his family Even her own brother and parents disowned her telling her to leave the house The visibly pregnant 17yearold had been roaming around Nalasopara before an autorickshaw driver took her to Amravati and got her admitted to a hospital where she delivered a baby boy in Marchrdquo said an officer attached to the MBVV policeOut on the streetsTen days after her delivery the survivorrsquos parents called her and asked her to return home ldquoWhen she got back she was asked by her brother to vacate the place She was on the road again She contacted me on April 9 at 10 pm I immediately jumped into her rescue and brought her home where she narrated her ordeal to merdquo said JadhavPolice actionJadhav with the help of another social activist Afreen Shaikh approached the Achole police station where the cops registered an FIR under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the POCSO Act against Sutar Khan the survivorrsquos parents Thorat Jagtap Jha Thakur Bhosale Gohil Dr Kalpana Warang Parmar Thakurrsquos friend an advocate one Ankush Navale and othersPournima ChouguleShringi the zonal deputy commissioner of police said ldquoIt is a very sensitive case and we are handling it w ith extra care Our teams are working on it rigorously and we wonrsquot spare any accusedrdquo ldquoWe have already arrested one person in connection with this case Our investigations are underwayrdquo she told middayApril 9Day survivor contacted Vidya Jadhav2022Year survivor delivered first child