17-year-old deaf girl uses sign language to identify 21-year-old man who sexually assaulted and impregnated her

Navi Mumbai: A 21-year-old youth was arrested by Kharghar police for sexually assaulting and impregnating a 17-year-old deaf girl.The pregnancy came to light on June 1 when the girl, who is also non-verbal, was taken to the family doctor with complaints of abdominal pain. A sonography scan revealed she was five months pregnant.Acting on a complaint made by the girl’s father on Tuesday, the Kharghar police first registered an FIR against an unidentified accused. A sign language teacher was then brought in to communicate with the girl in the presence of the police and her parents.ACP (Kharghar division) Vikram Kadam said, “Using sign language, she identified the accused as Ramji Sonawane residing in Labour camp, Taloja village.” She had met him on Instagram, with the police finding Sonawane’s image and address from her page.Sonawane was traced within four hours of registering an FIR. On Wed, he was produced before the Panvel district sessions court for Pocso Act cases and remanded to police custody till June 8.