A 25-year-old man has been arrested by the Kurla police for allegedly trying to rape a 3-year-old girl in a movie theatre during the evening show on Saturday. The accused, identified as Mohammad Israel, sells toys near the Mahim dargah and is a friend of the victim’s family who are also hawkers in the area.
On Saturday evening, Israel told the victim’s mother that he was taking her for a movie. The mother allowed him to take the girl as he was known to them and used to play with the child all the time. According to the police, Israel took the victim to Kalpana theatre in Kurla (W) and bought a ticket for the early evening show. Mid-way through the movie, however, the child began to cry. When she did not stop after a while, other movie-goers informed the theatre security.
Police said that the accused had made the victim sit in his lap, and taking advantage of the darkness, was trying to rape her while the movie was going on. He thought he would get away with it as the adjacent and nearby seats were vacant. Unaware that a security guard was approaching him, the accused was caught with his pants down. When the watchman flashed his torch, the man tried to flee holding on to his pants.
However, the watchman raised an alarm and other movie-goers caught the accused and thrashed him when they learnt what had happened. They then handed him over to the theatre authorities who, in turn, called the Kurla police. “We have arrested the accused and charged him under Section 376 which deals with rape,” said a senior police officer. “It is suspected that he might be mentally unstable, and we are interrogating him,” the officer added.
Madrassa secretary arrested
The Dharavi police arrested a madrassa secretary on Sunday for allegedly sodomising a 10-year-old boy.
The police said the accused, identified as Mohammed Naif Noor Mohammed, 55, on May 1 sodomised the victim at his office. The victim had complained of pain in his private parts following which his parents took him for a check up at a local dispensary. Doctors told that the victim had been sodomised, and the parents approached madrassa authorities to register a complaint.
On Saturday, the parents approached the cops. The boy told them he was playing outside his house when Mohammed called him and asked him to press his feet. When the boy entered the room, Mohammed assaulted and sodomised him. The police have arrested Mohammed under Section 377 of the IPC and will produce him in court on Monday. (MM)
