Man arrested for abducting, raping minor in J&K's Reasi

Jammu, Jan 18: A man was arrested for allegedly kidnapping and raping a minor girl from Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir, police said on Tuesday.

While the 14-year-old girl was rescued from the house of her abductor 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 father of the minor had lodged a complaint at 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 investigation started which revealed that the minor was kidnapped by Shakeel alias Sonu, a resident of Poonch, the spokesperson said.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Reasi, Shalinder Singh constituted a special team headed by a sub inspector to rescue the abducted minor, the official added.

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 the medical examination of the victim was conducted by a board of doctors and the statement of the minor recorded before the Judicial Magistrate.

On the basis of statement of the victim, 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 completion of legal procedures.

The police team finally arrested the accused from Belicharana area of 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, the SSP said.