In a shameful incident, the Waliv police have registered a case against a 65-year-old man for allegedly raping the daughter of his house-help for over six months.
According to a Mumbai Mirror report, the 13-year-old victim is currently in her final trimester (phase of pregnancy) while the accused, identified as Martin Lopez, is believed to have fled to America.
The girl’s mother works as a house-help in several homes in Waliv, Vasai, including that of Martin’s. She said that her daughter would often accompany her to these homes on holidays, to assist her or fill in for her.
In September, when the woman asked her daughter to work at Martin’s home during Ganpati festival holidays, she refused and broke down, and told her mother of Lopez’s alleged sexual assaults.
The woman said that Martin would threaten her daughter with dire consequences if she told anyone about his assaults.
She also told that Martin, at first didn’t entertain her at his house, but later dissuaded her from going to the police, and promised to take care of the medical expenses if she didn’t register a complaint.
However, a month later, Martin and his wife simply disappeared.
On the other hand, the victim’s family also blamed the police for their tepid response. The aggrieved family said that when they approached the police, they didn’t register their complaint. However, when the family threatened of a dharna at the police station, the officials took cognizance of the matter.
“She was sent for a medical check-up, and the doctors confirmed that she had been raped and was six months pregnant,” Mumbai Mirror quoted victim girl’s brother as saying.
“We registered the crime and did all the investigations. But by that time, the accused Martin Lopez had already left for America. We are now putting pressure on his family to find out more, but until he returns, there is nothing we can do,” said Subhash Markad, investigating officer and assistant police inspector, Waliv.
