Taloja police have arrested 70-year-old NRI Faroow Shaikh from London for sexually assaulting a 10-year-old girl at his Taloja Phase-2 apartment over the past two years. The minor was reportedly forced to consume alcohol on several occasions.
The child’s mother, aged 30, was also arrested for allegedly sending her daughter to stay with Shaikh despite knowing about the abuse. She reportedly accepted Rs 2.5 lakh from Shaikh to pay a rental deposit and received funds for monthly groceries in return for allowing the assaults.
During the investigation, police seized sex toys, multiple packets of sex-stimulating pills, a liquor bottle, Vaseline cream, and a digital video recorder from Shaikh’s apartment. Authorities are retrieving data from the recorder to determine whether any assaults were filmed.
Shaikh and the girl’s mother were produced before the Panvel special court under the POCSO Act and remanded to police custody until November 4. The girl was placed under the care of the Child Welfare Committee (CWC) and sent to a safe house.
The ordeal came to light following a tip-off to the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, leading to the raid and the minor’s rescue.
Shaikh faces charges under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for rape, rape of a child under 12, criminal intimidation, and the POCSO Act for aggravated penetrative sexual assault. The mother faces charges under the POCSO Act for abetting the offense, BNS for common intention, and the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) for living off the earnings of another’s prostitution.
