Thane: Man, sister booked for abducting newborn over loan repayment dispute

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A brother-sister duo has been booked for allegedly abducting and confining a newborn in order to force his mother to repay a loan, a Thane police official said on Friday, reported news agency PTI.

The complainant, who during her pregnancy had taken a loan from the accused, gave birth to a boy on October 15, the Ulhasnagar police station official said, reported PTI.

"The accused, identified as Sanjay Patel and his sister Sumi Patel from Surat, demanded that she repay the loan, which they claimed was Rs 45,000. When the woman could not arrange for money, they took away the newborn on October 18," he said, reported PTI.

"The accused then refused to take her calls or return the child. After all efforts failed, the woman approached police on Thursday. The child is with the accused," he said, reported PTI.

The siblings have been charged with kidnapping, confinement and other offences but are yet to be arrested, the official added, reported PTI.

In another case, a special court in Maharashtra's Thane district has sentenced a man to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for sexually assaulting a six-year-old girl, reported PTI.

Special judge D S Deshmukh on Thursday found the accused Terry Jojef Bhonkya (43) guilty of charges under relevant provisions of the Indian Penal Code and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, reported PTI.

The court sentenced the accused, a resident of Bhayander, to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment and imposed a fine of Rs 6,000 on him. The amount will be provided as compensation to the victim, reported PTI.

Special public prosecutor Sandhya H Mhatre told the court that the accused lived in the same neighbourhood as the victim, who was six years old at the time of the incident in 2018, reported PTI.

On April 20, 2018, the child's parents went out in the morning, leaving her playing outside their house. The accused took the girl inside the house and sexually assaulted her, reported PTI.

The child later informed her mother about the assault and the neighbours also claimed to have seen the accused coming out of the house, the prosecutor said, reported PTI.

As many as seven witnesses, including the victim and her mother, were examined during the trial, she said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)