An air-conditioner (AC) mechanic allegedly raped a five-year-old girl inside the lift of a residential building at Navi Mumbai in Maharashtra, after which he was arrested, police said on Saturday. The incident occurred on Tuesday evening at Taloja, they said. "The accused, 19, spotted the five-year-old girl playing in the parking area of the building when he was climbing down the stairs after some AC repair work there. He took the girl inside the lift and sexually assaulted her there before leaving the place," senior inspector Jitendra Sonawane of Taloja police station said.
The victim immediately went home on the third floor and started vomiting. When her mother asked her if everything was fine, the child told her about the incident. After that, her mother rushed downstairs, where she found the accused. He was held by the security guard of the building and other residents, the police official said. The residents then handed him over to the police, who arrested him and registered a case against him under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 376 (rape) and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he added. On Friday, a local court remanded him into judicial custody, Sonawane said, adding that investigation into the case was on.
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