Eight minor girls, who had run away from an ashram in Nerul, were spotted by the police and rescued on Thursday.
Eight minor girls, who had run away from an ashram in Nerul, were spotted by the police and rescued on Thursday.
Aged between five and 10 years, they alleged that they were physically, mentally and sexually abused at Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission in Nerul. The caretakers of the ashram, Satish Pagi (45) and his wife Anita (40), were arrested.
Out of the 12 girls staying in the ashram, eight ran away.
A police team from the Nerul police station, which was patrolling around 3.30am on Thursday, saw the girls on the road without any guardian.
"Initially, the girls told us that they were going on a picnic. The team then took them into confidence and brought them to the police station," said RL Chaphekar, senior police inspector. "When our women officials spoke to them, they told them the truth. A woman official from the main branch of the ashram in Pune was called. Seeing them, the girls began to cry and told her about their ordeal. We arrested the couple from the Nerul branch of the ashram."
The police said that out of the eight girls, three were the main targets of the accused and he used to force them to indulge in oral sex.
"The mummy in the ashram used to beat us a lot. We had to serve them food, wash utensils and do all household work and get beaten as well," said a girl.
"Daddy used to do dirty things with us and when we would complain to mummy, she never believed us. We have been going through this for the past three years. We decided to run away as we cannot tolerate this anymore," she added.
The girl said that after the Lonavla ashram shut, they were shifted to Nerul. "I was in class 4 when I was brought here and now I am in class 7. We learnt that the Lonavla ashram has reopened so we decided to run away from here and go there."
The remaining four girls in the ashram were rescued. The accused were remanded in police custody till September 6. The court has directed the police to hand over the children to Woman and Child Welfare Officer in Bhiwandi.
The staff at Pandita Ramabai Mukti Mission office in Kedgaon, near Pune, was evasive when contacted by DNA on Friday. Refusing to any details about the Nerul incident, the office-bearer who answered the call said they were not aware of what had happened and only the director who was visiting the spot would be able to comment on it.
(with inputs from Bhagyashree Kulthe)
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