'Monster uncle' raped five minor sisters

The horror of an elder relative forcing himself on minors in the family came to the fore yet again when a real estate agent was arrested for sexually exploiting five minor daughters of his elder brother in Vasai repeatedly.

The 42-year-old was arrested by the Vasai police under sections of the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offenses Act, 2012 on the charge of raping five minors - aged 13, 11, 10, nine and seven years - over a span of two years.

Ghastly act: The 42-year-old accused being taken to court by Valiv police yesterday

According to the police, the girls' parents are daily-wage labourers and stay out of the house for most of the day. The eldest daughter, who was targeted by the accused first, took care of the house and her younger siblings. Since the accused was the younger brother of the girls' father, he often visited and stayed with them for several days.

He would take advantage of the absence of the parents and lure his target to a relative's house in the area by giving the child occasional money or offering a chocolate. He threatened them with murdering their parents if they told anyone about the act.

However, on Wednesday, the eldest daughter, who is 13-years-old, saw one of her sisters with the accused. A victim herself, she panicked for her sister's safety and told her to stay away from the uncle. Unfortunately, it was too late as the younger girl told her sister that the accused had done ‘bad things' to her and told her not to tell it to anyone.

Shocked, the 13-year-old decided to ask the other sisters as well. When she did, they started crying and told her that the uncle was ‘bad'. u00a0"Having realised that all her sisters had been exploited and that her silence had not saved her family from harm, the teenager gathered courage and decided to tell her mother. She told her mother that she was suffering from pain in her private parts. The mother rushed the girl to the doctor where the girl revealed the horror," said a police officer from the Valiv police station in Vasai (E).

The parents approached the police and registered a case against the relative. A special team of three lady police officers was formed by Thane (Rural) Superintendent of Police Anil Kumbhare to investigate the case on a priority basis. All the sisters have been sent for medical examination. "The accused was presented before the court on Thursday and was remanded in police custody till March 28," said API S Vakode, from Valiv police station.u00a0