A 15-year-old girl was confined in a house for two months when she was allegedly repeatedly raped, forced to undergo an abortion and then pushed into prostitution by a man known to her family in Maharashtra’s Thane district, police said. Four people, including a woman, have been arrested, though the main accused is still at large.

The minor lived with her mother, who sells food, and her sister in Dombivli and she came in contact with the accused, Ashutosh Rajput, who is a spice seller. The accused used to visit the girl’s house often.

One day, the girl had an argument with her mother after she gave her Class 10 exams and walked out of her house. Taking advantage of the situation, Rajput cajoled her into coming with him.

Later, when the teenager didn’t return home, her worried mother attempted to find her. However, Rajput told her she saw her daughter somewhere in Dombivli and that she was angry and wouldn’t come back. He assured her that he would bring the girl back home.

However, when the girl did not return home after two months, her mother became suspicious and filed a complaint of kidnapping at the police station. The police then began searching for her.

The minor was finally found at a home in a rural part of Dombivli and was rescued by the police. During investigation, it was found that the girl was locked in a room for two months and she was repeatedly raped and impregnated by the accused, police said.

When the minor became pregnant, Rajput took her to a woman’s house belonging to one Muskan Sheikh, to get her abortion done. She was then forced into prostitution before she narrated her ordeal with some social workers who found her, following which the police swung into action.

Police arrested Sheikh, her husband and two others in connection with the incident. Rajput, however, is still on the run, and the police formed teams to catch him.

A case was registered under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 137(2) (kidnapping), 65(1) (rape in certain cases), 88 (causing miscarriage), 143 (trafficking of person), 144 (exploitation of trafficked person) as well as provisions of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act and Immoral Traffic (Prevention) Act, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Dombivli) Suhas Hemade told news agency PTI.

(with inputs from PTI)