Auto driver abducts, rapes 12-year-old at knifepoint, nabbed in Panchkula

Panchkula, December 30

The Panchkula police have arrested an auto-rickshaw driver for allegedly raping a 12-year-old girl at knifepoint late Friday evening. The police claimed the accused, identified as Mustaqeen (23), was in an inebriated state when he committed the ghastly crime.

Ghastly Act

• Leaving their kin’s house, victim and her five-year-old sister walk towards their home
• Accused driver approaches the two; threatens younger girl with knife, abducts victim
• Takes the girl to nearby bushes and rapes her at knifepoint; cops launch manhunt and nab him

Neha Sandhu, Station House Officer (SHO) of the women police station, said the auto-rickshaw driver knew the girl as he had earlier stayed in her neighbourhood.

The incident took place during late evening hours in Sector 19, Panchkula. Sandhu said she received information about the rape around 1 am. “The girl was profusely bleeding from her private parts and was lying unconscious. She was admitted to the Civil Hospital in Sector 6. We have registered an FIR and started an investigation on the complaint of the victim’s father,” she said.

Sandhu said the victim, accompanied by her five-year-old sister, was walking towards her home after visiting her relatives when the incident took place. The auto-rickshaw driver approached the two. He threatened the younger girl with a knife and abducted the victim. He then took her to nearby bushes where he raped her.

The SHO said the police launched a manhunt and nabbed the accused by 7 am on Saturday and impounded his auto-rickshaw and the knife used in the incident. He was produced in a local court, which sent him to judicial custody. The victim was recuperating from her injuries. “We are in constant touch with the girl and her family,” she added.