Minor girl from Bihar raped in Mahim for a month, two held

A 14-year-old, who was brought to Mumbai from Bihar by her maternal aunt under the pretext of providing her a job, was raped by a 40-year-old man over a period of more than a month. Appallingly, the victim’s 60-year-old aunt was not only aware of the crime but also assisted the accused in it.

Both the accused, Mohamed Sher Ali Siddiqui (40) and the victim’s aunt, have been arrested.

According to the Mahim police, the victim came with her aunt to Mumbai around two months ago and had been staying with her at a chawl in Mahim. The victim thought she would be able to support her family if she worked in Mumbai.

Siddiqui would often visit the victim’s aunt and around a month ago, he started touching the victim inappropriately while the aunt was in the house. The victim told her aunt about the incident, but the aunt said that if she wanted to live with her, she’d have to do whatever she said.

“Following this, Siddiqui raped the girl on several occasions, sometimes even when her aunt was in the house. The victim finally gathered the courage to share the incident with a woman who lived next door,” said an officer from Mahim police station.

The neighbour took the victim to the police on Thursday. As soon as a case was lodged, the police arrested Siddiqui and the victim’s aunt. They duo has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

The victim has been sent to a children’s home and the police are trying to ascertain if the victim’s aunt used to take money from Siddiqui for letting him rape her.