india

Updated: Nov 24, 2019 09:25 IST

A 25-year-old man who kidnapped a 17-year-old girl from Raisen seven months ago while claiming that both were ichchhadhari naag (a mythical shapeshifting snake that can transform itself into a human being and vice-versa) and naagin in their previous birth and were divinely ordained to marry each other, was arrested in Vidisha near Bhopal, police said on Saturday.

According to Madhya Pradesh police, the accused Santosh Namdeo, a resident of Vidisha, had raped two other minor girls in 2013 and 2016 on the same pretext at two different places.

He was arrested in connection with both the rape cases earlier and sent to jail. He was out on bail when he kidnapped and raped the third girl. The girl’s maternal uncle has been arrested too for being an accomplice in the crime, police said.

The accused was arrested on Tuesday and was sent to jail on Friday, said police.

According to police, latest victim who is from a humble background is a brilliant student and had passed her 12th standard exams with distinction.

Town inspector (TI), Umraoganj police station, Raisen, Shahbaz Khan said, “The girl’s father complained to police on May 4, 2019 that the accused took his daughter on April 17, 2019 on the pretext of performing a pooja and later drop her at her maternal uncle’s place at another village. However, when his daughter did not reach her uncle’s place, the complainant called the accused who told him that the girl and he had been ichchhadhaari naagin and naag in their previous birth and that the God had asked him in his dream that the two should be married to each other. After that the accused disconnected the call.”

The police officer said the girl’s father told the police that the accused used to come to his house along with the girl’s maternal uncle (who was also arrested) and claimed that he was a great devotee of God Shankara. He had a tattoo of a snake on his neck to convince people. He used to treat the girl as his niece and often touched her feet as a mark of respect. That’s why he (girl’s father) believed the accused and allowed his daughter to go along with him. The latter even took the complainant’s motorbike.

The officer said the accused managed to evade arrest for about seven months. It was on a tip-off that he was arrested from his place in Vidisha when he visited his parents.

Khan said the girl in her statement told the police that the accused took him to several places and raped her while treating her as his wife.

Police said the accused had earlier raped two minor girla – one in Raisen district in 2013 and another in Vidisha district in 2016.

Khan said the accused was booked in connection with the third rape under sections 363, 366, 376(2)(n), 406 and 120-B of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and section 5/6 of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO), Act.