Traffic cop arrested on rape charge in Mumbai

Officers from the Kurla police station arrested a traffic constable on Monday for allegedly kidnapping and raping a 15-year-old girl.

“Ganesh Tarpe, 22, attached to the Colaba Traffic Division in South Mumbai has been booked for kidnapping, rape and criminal intimidation,” senior inspector Vijay Bagve said.

“Tarpe will be produced before the Kurla metropolitan magistrate’s court on Tuesday,” the inspector said.

Doctors at the police hospital in Nagpada have examined Tarpe and the victim. Bagve said that the police would decide on the next course of action after going through the medical reports.

Another officer said that the victim, who studies in Std IX in a Marathi medium school in Kurla, knew Tarpe for many years. “They were neighbours in the police colony at Kurla for the past several years,” he said. “The constable had an affair with the victim for the past two years.”

On January 20, Tarpe took the victim to Virar. There, he booked a room in a lodge and allegedly raped the girl, the officer said. Both returned home in the evening.

The incident came to light on Sunday when the victim’s father, a police naik at Trombay police station, learnt that his daughter had not gone to school on January 20. When he enquired about it, his daughter told him that she had gone to Virar with Tarpe. She also told him about their physical relation.

The victim’s father lodged a complaint of kidnap and rape against Tarpe at Kurla police station on Monday.