A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a teenage boy at Trimbakeshwar in Nashik, which sparked a tense situation as angry villagers protested at several places in the district demanding his immediate arrest, police said. Reportedly, protestors blocked the Agra-Mumbai Highway around noon on Sunday.
The boy has been taken into custody, said the police.
In view of the situation, Nashik Police Commissioner Ravindra Singhal has appealed to the people to maintain peace.
The 16-year-old boy allegedly raped the girl at an isolated place at Talegaon village under Trimbakeshwar taluka in the district on Saturday, Trimbakeshwar police station in-charge Mukund Deshmukh said.
As soon as the news spread, tension gripped Talegoan as locals gathered at the police station, demanding that the boy be booked and arrested.
The villagers also staged a 'rasta roko' in Wadovhare, Ghoti and Anjaneri-phata areas. Some people set tyres on fire, and also damaged a tractor in Talegaon.
A group of people also protested at Nashik Civil Hospital last night and demanded that the victim be examined by a woman doctor, Deshmukh said.
According to rural control room, some people staged rasta-rokos at Talwade village on Nashik-Trimbakeshwar road, Girnare village, which is about 10 kms from Nashik district headquarters, and near Mohadi on the busy Mumbai-Agra National Highway this morning against the incident.
Police had to rush to the sites and clear the roads.
Meanwhile, the boy has been booked under IPC section 376 (rape) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.
Nashik Police Commissioner Singhal has appealed to people to maintain peace and assured that proper action would be taken against the guilty.
