Father and four others arrested for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl

Pune: Chikhali police have arrested five persons, including the biological father, for sexually abusing a 13-year-old girl. The girl herself came to the police station on July 5 (Friday) while returning home from school. The incident took place between April 8 and June 29, 2024.

The suspects were identified as Samadhan Lavate (40), Pratap Pramod Dhaytade and Nitin Harale (32), all three residents of Chikhali; Sagar Harale (20), a resident of Mohannagar in Akurdi; and the girl’s father (name withheld).

All five suspects were arrested under relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and remanded in police custody by the local court.

According to police, the girl was watching videos on YouTube when Samadhan Lavate approached her. Samadhan lured the girl by saying that he would perform sexual acts as seen in the video.

Samadhan then took the girl to his home and sexually abused her. When the girl told her father about it, he asked her not to speak about the matter to anyone. Later, when the girl was unwell, the father sexually abused her. The girl tried to resist her father’s advances, but he threatened her with dire consequences.

While the girl was going to her teacher’s house for classes, she was sexually abused by her husband. On May 19, she was also sexually abused by the husband and brother-in-law of the girl’s mother’s friend. On June 29, the girl was sexually abused by her father.

The girl had gone to school on July 5. Unable to bear the sexual abuse any longer, she decided to approach the police and went straight to Chikhali police station. She narrated the incidents to the police and filed a complaint against the suspects.