A 22-year-old man has been arrested under the provisions of the recently promulgated Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 for allegedly attempting to rape a seven-year-old girl in Maharashtra's Yavatmal district, police said today.
The incident occurred in the Indira Nagar locality last evening.
Rama Damkundawar allegedly took the girl, a daughter of his neighbour, to the terrace of his house and tried to rape her, said Sub-Divisional Police Officer, Yavatmal, Piyush Jagtap.
However, the girl managed to escape the clutches of the accused and rushed to her house, he said, adding that she narrated the incident to her parents who raised an alarm.
The accused and the father of the girl work as labourers, the officer said.
Jagtap said as the word spread, the neighbours of the girl gathered at the spot and thrashed Damkundawar. He was rescued by police who rushed to the spot after being informed about the incident.
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"We have recorded the statements of the girl and her mother and registered an FIR at the Awadhootwadi police station," Jagtap said.
"We have arrested Damkundawar after registering a criminal offence under sections 376 AB and 376 (3) of the newly promulgated ordinance to ensure death penalty for the accused who rapes a girl under 12 years of age," the police officer said.
Damkundawar was also booked under sections 4,6 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, he said.
The accused was today produced before a local court, which remanded him in police custody for two days, Jagtap added.
President Ram Nath Kovind on Sunday promulgated an Ordinance to pave the way for providing stringent punishment, including death penalty, for those convicted of raping girls aged below 12, a day after the Union Cabinet approved the the Criminal Law (Amendment) Ordinance 2018 to this effect.
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