Minor scratches stepfather’s face to foil rape attempt

NAGPUR: A 14-year-old girl scratched her stepfather’s face to get away when he tried to rape her on Sunday. The man was forcing himself on her after removing her clothes near Mauja-Devdi-Pindari at Hingna.
Rani (name changed), a student of standard VII, was living with her mother and stepfather Dnyaneshwar, who too had parted ways with his first wife, since the last eight years, said cops.On Sunday morning, 56-year-old Dnyaneshwar asked Rani’s mother to come with him to the forest since one of goats was expected to deliver. However, since she was busy with other stuff, she sent Rani instead.
The man took the minor along with him when he took the goats for grazing in the forest. There, Dnyaneshwar engaged the girl in conversation and removed her as well as his own lower clothes. He then pushed her down, gagged her mouth with a veil and tried to force himself upon her. The girl somehow gathered her wits and scratched her stepfather on the face with her nails, pushed him away and fled the spot in semi-naked condition.
Even as she ran screaming for help, Dnyaneshwar started chasing her and caught her some distance away. He gave back her clothes and threatened to kill her if she disclosed the matter to her mother. However, the girl narrated the episode to her mother at home. The mother immediately took her to the police to file a complaint.
Hingna police registered an offence of rape against Dynaneshwar on Sunday night and arrested him. The cops conducted a medical examination on the survivor on Monday.