Police arrest man for raping 5-year-old girl on hospital grounds

Mumbai: The MRA Marg police has arrested a 28-year-old man for allegedly raping a five-year-old girl. The victim had come to the city three months ago with her parents to be treated for her continuing fever and the family was staying inside the compound of the St George Hospital, where the incident occurred.

According to the police, the accused has been identified as Arif Mohammed, who owns and runs a truck shop on the hospital premises. “The accused works at a shop located inside the premises wherein he sells chocolates and essential daily items,” said Sukhlal Varpe, senior police inspector, MRA Marg police station. He added that the accused had been observing the girl for the past three months.

“The girl was suffering from very high fever for many days, which would constantly return. Hence they decided to get her treated in the city and were staying inside the compound as they did not have money to rent a place of their own,” said a source. He added that the incident occurred on Saturday afternoon when the girl had gone to buy sweets. “The accused started talking to the victim and lured her inside the shop and raped her. When she did not return for a long time the parents started looking and found the girl sitting and crying in a corner. She then told her parents about the incident following which they approached the police,” said the source.

The accused has been arrested and booked under section 376 of the IPC and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.