Minor girl abducted from Hassan rescued in Rajasthan

The district police have rescued a minor girl of Arsikere from Moka village, Bikaner district, Rajasthan, and have arrested a youth and his mother for forcing her into wedlock.

The minor girl, who is now four months pregnant, has been handed over to the Child Protection Committee.
Superintendent of Police Rahul Kumar Shahapurawad told reporters here on Friday that Shashirekha of Arsikere, Sunitha of Rajasthan and her husband Vasanth have been booked under Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, in connection with the crime.

The SP said that the girl is said to have left home on September 26, 2016, and her mother, who was working for a private company, had enquired with her daughter’s friends who suggested that the girl might have eloped. The mother, accordingly, decided against registering a police complaint.

In March, almost six months later, she received a phone call from her daughter, who informed her that Shashirekha had forcibly brought her to Rajasthan and got her married to a driver. The girl’s mother immediately lodged a police complaint and also submitted an application to the district Women and Child Development department seeking assistance to rescue her daughter, the SP said.

The police began investigations and based on the cellphone number, they found the girl at Bikaner district in Rajasthan.

With the help of the local police they rescued the girl and produced her before the local court seeking permission to bring her to Karnataka. She is under counselling, the SP said.

According to the girl’s statements, Shashirekha promised her a job and took her to Bengaluru and then to Chennai where she was kept in a lodge. The girl said that Shashirekha then tried to sell her. The girl stated in her complaint that as some people who visited the lodge rejected her, she was forcibly taken to Rajasthan where a jeep driver paid Rs 3 lakh and forced her into wedlock. The girl is four months pregnant now.

The police have got clues on the whereabouts of Shashirekha, Sunitha and Vasanth and will soon arrest them, the SP said. Additional SP Jyothi Vaidyanathan was also present.