In a gruesome incident that came to light, a 76-year-old man was arrested on Thursday for raping and impregnating a 13-year-old girl in Hyderabad.
The accused, identified as Abdul Wahab, was reported to be a resident of Aghapura in Habeeb Nagar, who had been sexually assaulting the minor since June 2017.
"Following a complaint from the parents of the girl, we have arrested Wahab. He stays in the same locality and has sexually exploited their daughter many a times since June to September last year by luring her with chocolates and snacks.Currently, the girl is pregnant " Circle Inspector, Habeeb Nagar Police Station, Madhukar Swamy was quoted as saying.
“The family members took her to several doctors, who treated it as any other stomach pain case, as they did not suspect it to be pregnancy. About a month ago, the family members discovered that the girl is pregnant,” the police officer added.
According to media reports, the girl is now seven-months pregnant.
The Habeeb Nagar police have booked Waheed under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
This is not the first such case to be reported from the city.
In November last year, an 85-year-old man was arrested by the police after he allegedly raped a class 7 Dalit student in Kushaiguda.
The police said that the accused, identified as a retired railway employee N Satyanarayana Rao, also allegedly raped and sexually assaulted five other girls, all from the same school, over the past year.
According to reports, he would lure the girls with chocolates and sweets, before taking them to his house, where he would rape them, and threaten them to keep quiet. All his victims were reported to be 12 years old or younger.
Besides booking him for rape and under the POCSO Act, Rao was also booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.