Bengaluru police arrest retired sub-inspector for molesting 7-year-old girl

The retired sub-inspector stays with his family on the ground floor, while the first floor of his three-storeyed house in Sultan Nagar was occupied by his daughter and her family.

Hanif had let out the remaining floor to a family from Nagawara about two weeks ago. The main earning of this family was the vehicle-spare-part business, the police said.

On Sunday, guests had come to the tenants’ house and the kids were playing on their floor, from where a ball had fallen to the ground floor.

The seven-year-old reportedly went down the stairs to retrieve the ball when the accused 74-year-old lured her with toys and took her into his house.

“The ground floor has a kitchen and a dining room, while the living room — where the accused took the victim — is on the first floor,” a senior police officer told South First.

Since the little girl did not return for quite some time, her family started to search for her and found the girl with the elderly man inside his house.

The family members then took the girl back to their house. As they were casually speaking with her, she revealed that the “uncle” was a “bad” person.

When they pressed her further, the seven-year-old revealed that the man had kissed her and also touched her private parts, the police said.

The minor also told her family that when she objected to his bad touch and told him that she would complain to her parents, she was threatened and slapped, the cops added.

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Police complaint

Infuriated by the revelations, the family of the victim confronted Hanif and questioned him, but he kept denying all the charges.

As the closest police station was Bharathi Nagar, the family headed there and tried to register a complaint.

However, the cops there told the family that their house fell under the Shivajinagar Police Station limits, which they would have to approach.

By then, a huge crowd had gathered in front of Hanif’s house and tense moments prevailed. The police arrived at Hanif’s house to bring the situation under control.

The family of the victim then lodged a complaint with the Shivajinagar police, who registered a case under sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act as well for sexual harassment and criminal intimidation under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They arrested Abdul Hanif on Monday.

“The accused is a retired police sub-inspector who had served at a few police stations in the Bengaluru Rural districts. He has been booked under Section 8 of the POCSO Act and Sections 354 (sexual harassment) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the IPC, and was arrested,” a senior police officer told South First.

“After all standard operating procedures and protocols involving POCSO cases were followed, the accused was produced before a magistrate and remanded in judicial custody,” added the officer.

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