Shopkeeper held on charge of minor’s sexual assault

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Parli rural police in Beed district on Sunday arrested a 62-year-old shopkeeper for allegedly sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl.The minor girl's mother, in her complaint, said the accused lured her daughter under the pretext of offering snacks in his shop and then sexually assaulted her on March 18.Beed superintendent of police (SP) Navneet Kanwat said an offence has been registered and the accused has been arrested. "We arrested the shopkeeper immediately after receiving the complaint. Further investigation is in progress," he said.According to police, the girl was heading alone towards a flour mill when the accused approached her. "The suspect then took the girl to his shop by promising to offer her snacks. He sexually assaulted her inside the shop and warned of dire consequences if she revealed about the incident to anyone," a police officer said.The accused on Sunday allegedly again tried to approach the girl, when she told her family about the previous act committed by him.Parli rural police have registered an offence under sections 64 (1), 64 (2) (both punishments for rape), section 65 (2) (punishment for rape committed on a woman under 12 years of age), section 74 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 75 (2) (sexual harrassment) and 351 (2) (criminal intimidation) of the BNS along with sections 4, 6, 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012.The accused will be produced before the local court on Monday, the officer said while speaking to TOI.