Nashik: A five-year-old girl was allegedly raped by a teenage boy at Trimbakeshwar near Nashik, which led to tension as angry villagers protested at several places in the district demanding his immediate arrest, police said on Sunday.
The boy has been taken into custody, they said.
In view of the situation, Nashik Police Commissioner Ravindra Singhal has appealed 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 last night demanding that the boy be booked and arrested.
The villagers also staged '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.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Water Resources Minister Girish Mahajan, who is also the Guardian Minister of Nashik, on Sunday visited Talegaon and met the victim's family members.
He assured the girl's family that stern action will be taken by police against the culprit.
The minister also asked people to remain calm.
"The girl has been examined at Nashik Civil Hospital by lady doctors, and it was clear that only an attempt of rape was made by the boy," he told reporters.
Special Inspector General of Police, Nashik Range, Vinaykumar Choube also visited Talegaon this morning even as some people threw stones on his car, a rural control room official said, adding that Superintendent of Police (rural) Ankush Shinde was keeping a close watch on the situation.
The situation was under control but tense, the official said.
Taking precautionary measures, the city as well as rural police have beefed up security.
