Man held for raping, abetting suicide of 17-year-old girl in Navi Mumbai

Thane: The Navi Mumbai police have arrested a 23-year-old man for allegedly repeatedly raping and impregnating a minor girl and abetting her suicide, an official said on Saturday.

Based on a complaint lodged by the deceased girl’s mother, the police on Friday arrested the accused from the Govandi area of neighbouring Mumbai, the official from Koparkhairane police station said.

He has been booked under sections 305 (abetting suicide of a minor), 376(2)(n) (repeated rape) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.

The accused had allegedly befriended the 17-year-old girl, repeatedly raped her despite knowing that she was a minor and impregnated her. The distraught girl hanged herself from the ceiling at her house on November 28, he said.

The police are probing the case, the official said.