A 51-year-old man was arrested on Friday by the Worli police for the rape of a nine-year-old girl the previous night. Police said the man assaulted the minor and then gave her money to buy her silence. They said the victim is from a economically weak family that recently lost its only earning member, and the accused, Rambali Saroj, tried to exploit the family’s poverty.

According to the police, Saroj is a resident of Gandhinagar in Worli, as is the victim. On Thursday night, Saroj allegedly lured the minor girl to a stable behind his residence before raping her.

Senior PI Vinay Kulkarni with Worli police station said, “The accused sexually assaulted the victim and then gave her Rs 30. The victim, who recently lost her father and has five other siblings. Her mother does odd jobs to make ends meet. The accused told her that she could keep the money as long as she doesn’t tell anyone about what had happened.”

Though the victim maintained silence on the night of the incident, she developed severe stomach pain on Friday morning. Her mother rushed her to a nearby private clinic, where a medical examination indicated sexual assault. The doctors there brought it to her mother’s attention, after which she approached the police.

Investigators said the sexual assault was so brutal that they found several splotches of dried blood on the ground when they visited the scene of the crime.

Meanwhile, news of the incident spread through the locality and reached Saroj as well. By the time the police reached his residence, he had disappeared. The police then began questioning Saroj’s friends and relatives about his whereaboutsm and finally tracked the accused to a relative’s residence in Borivali.

“We arrested the accused from Borivali on Friday night and charged him with rape under the Indian Penal Code and with sexual assault under the Protection of Children against Sexual Offences Act. He was produced in court on Saturday and has been remanded in police custody till February 18,” Mr Kulkarni said.

The police are now interrogating Saroj and are also making inquiries in the area to find out if Saroj has been involved in similar crimes in the past.

The victim kept silent that night but developed severe stomach pain on Friday morning