Two men including a taxi driver named Shriprakash Pandey (29) and Salman Shaikh (27), who runs a small eatery in Dadar, have been arrested for allegedly raping a 14-year-old mentally unstable girl in a moving taxi, according to police reports on Thursday.
The incident reportedly occurred on Monday morning when the victim, who resides in the Malabar Hill area of South Mumbai, was en route to her relatives' residence in suburban Malvani. This journey followed a dispute with her parents at home.
While she was seated in Pandey's taxi near St. Stephen Church, he reportedly sensed her mental instability. Subsequently, he picked up his friend Salman in Dadar, and it's alleged that Salman sexually assaulted the girl in the backseat of the taxi during the journey from Dadar to Santacruz. The girl was later dropped off in Santacruz.
Meanwhile, the girl's parents filed a missing person report at the Malabar Hill police station. The police initiated a search operation and located the girl in the Vakola area.
Upon hearing the girl's account of the incident, the police identified the taxi's registration number and apprehended both suspects in the evening,
An FIR was filed against them under Section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code, along with pertinent sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
A court has remanded the duo to police custody until September 25, and an ongoing investigation is in progress.
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