Mumbai Crime: Neighbour molested 5-year-old for two weeks, arrested

A five-year-old girl was repeatedly molested by her neighbour over two weeks in Bhoiwada area. The 23-year-old accused was arrested on December 3 after the girl told her parents about him.

Home alone
Since the accused was the girl's neighbour, he knew that both her parents work in different banks and she is mostly alone at home. "The accused has been identified as Mahesh Nanku alias Bhau and the girl is a senior KG student. Her parents work with private banks," said a police officer.

The survivor's uncle, an estate agent, used to be home in the afternoon to give her lunch but he too used to leave for work later. "The girl used to visit the accused's house and spend time with his family. A family of five, the accused's two brothers and his parents used to stay together," he said.

Girl's ordeal
A police officer said, "He had a touched the girl's private parts and masturbated. He even threatened the girl not to tell anyone. On December 2, when girl's parents came back from work, they found the girl behaving a little odd. They kept asking her what was wrong and she told them about the accused."

Before approaching the police, the parents went to the hospital on their own. They got the girl checked and later approached the Bhoiwada police. The accused was arrested the next day and remanded to police custody till December 9.

The accused was booked under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act 2012.