Alert trio helps rescue toddler from paedophile in Govandi

Sachin Mohite points to the spot where they found the four-year-old and the accused. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The alertness of a trio in Govandi helped save a four-year-old from a 30-year-old paedophile, and put the pervert behind bars. The incident occurred on December 9. The toddler, who resides with her daily wage labourer parents in the telecom colony in Govandi was abducted by the accused, who stays in the same locality, on Sunday evening while she was playing outside. He then took her to a secluded place between the colony and Agarwadi, an old residential area.

Around the same time, Agarwadi resident Sachin Mohite (24), was strolling near a playground in the area while talking on the phone. Two others, Haresh Rane (26) and Mahesh Rane (27), residents of Deonar colony, were also in the area for an evening walk.

'Could hear the cries'
Sachin said, "Although I was talking on the phone, I could hear the cries of a child, and I wondered who was crying in the bushes. Then, I saw two men in their 20s [Haresh and Mahesh] looking towards a secluded place which was pitch dark. I went towards it as I was familiar with the area, and saw a little girl lying on the ground with someone beside her. I was terrified."

Sachin, Haresh and Mahesh immediately grasped what was happening. The trio ventured into the bushes aided by flashlights on their mobile phones and nabbed the paedophile. "I dialled 100 from my phone, while the others caught the culprit, said Mahesh, adding, "We shouted for help and immediately, 40 to 50 people gathered near the spot. Cops also arrived around the same time."

When cops took the accused in custody and asked him where he'd brought the girl from, he said he picked her up from a hutment near the telecom colony. One of the officers visited the hutment, where the four-year-old's parents were already out looking for her. "The girl is the only child of the family; they are daily wage labourers,"
said an officer.

Accused in police custody
Shashikant Mane, senior inspector of Govandi police station was all praise for the trio, "Due to their alertness, the girl was saved in no time. The accused has been arrested and will be in police custody till December 15."

The accused has been booked under Sections 363 (kidnapping), 354 (outraging woman's modesty), 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the stringent Prevention of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

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