Dombivali rape case: Dy CM Ajit Pawar advises 'parents must pay closer attention to kids'

After Shiv Sena, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar too mused that had the 14-year-old minor who was brutally gang-raped in Dombivali complained to police earlier, such a depraved situation may not have occurred. Advising parents to pay closer attention to kids, he argued that in the past such instances were unheard of. He also added that a law must be made so strict that people fear committing such crimes.

Pawar: 'Must pay closer attention to kids'

Addressing a press conference in Pune on Friday, Pawar said, "In yesterday's incident, the victim fell in love with some boy and he took advantage of it. If she had complained at the first instance when he had blackmailed.... she complained only after nine months. But we acted so swiftly that we caught many accused. I request everyone to immediately inform the police when someone blackmails one in such cases". 

He added, "If she had complained immediately, such a situation would not have arisen. Parents must pay attention to their children as to what they are doing. In earlier times, we used not hear of so many instances. In 75% of rape cases, the accused is a relative of the victim; while in the remaining cases, the accused is close friend, lover of the victim. We must make the law so strict that people should fear about even thinking such crimes". In a similar vein, Sena via its mouthpiece Saamana, blamed the victim for not disclosing the crime earlier, adding, "Had she complained earlier then the situation may be different".

Dombivali Rape case

On Thursday, Thane police booked 24 men and 2 minors for allegedly gang-raping a 14-year-old minor in Dombivali over the course of nine months. A special investigation team has been constituted by Thane police officials to probe the matter and are on the lookout for three more accused. As of date, 33 have been booked in the case.

The Dombivali rape case came to light when the victim reached the Manpada Police Station on Wednesday, September 22 to report her ordeal, after which the police started the investigation. Since then, the police has nabbed 26 accused in the matter. As per the initial investigation, it was established that the main accused (her friend), had allegedly raped her in January and shot her video to blackmail her. The same video was circulated by him among his friends, who used the video to threaten her and rape her.

Later it was discovered that the main accused along with his friends allegedly gang-raped the minor at four-five different locations, over the period of nine months. They took the minor to several locations, including Dombivli, Badlapur, Murbad and Rabale and assaulted her. The police have filed the case under the IPC section for rape, repeated rape, gang-rape, and provisions of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) act.