Teen thrown off balcony during rape bid in Dhoraji

Rajkot: A 27-year-old man allegedly threw a 14-year-old girl off the balcony of his first-floor home in Dhoraji on Sunday, when his bid to rape her was thwarted by her parents. The girl survived with injuries.

The victim’s father filed a complaint on Monday against the man, an unmarried neighbour, accusing him of trying to rape the girl and pushing her off the balcony when the crime was interrupted. Police have invoked Sections 109(1), 115(2), 127(2), 74, 75(2), 76 and 62 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 8, 9(r), 10, 12 and 18 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.

Dhoraji police arrested the accused and produced him in court on Tuesday, which remanded him in judicial custody.

According to police sources, on Sunday evening the girl was playing with friends near the accused’s house. He allegedly asked her to fetch milk from a nearby shop and then told her to put it in his kitchen. When the girl entered the house, the accused allegedly tied her hands and legs and attempted to rape her.

When the girl did not return for about half an hour, her parents began searching for her. On hearing suspicious sounds from the neighbour’s house, they went there to check. Police said the accused then allegedly pushed the girl off the balcony of his first-floor house.

The girl suffered a shoulder injury and was taken to hospital. PI B R Patel of Dhoraji police station said the victim was traumatized and a counselling session for her was arranged. She has since been discharged.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the accused works as a labourer. Police said the victim has studied up to Class VIII.