AURANGABAD: A 23-year-old mentally challenged woman was allegedly raped by her uncle and cousin on various occasions at Lonighat village near Beed district around 150 km from here. A case in this regard was registered by the mother of the victim, who saw her daughter being raped by one of the accused. The Neknoor police have arrested the uncle (48), a farmer by profession, who has been sent to police custody till December 31, but the cousin (23) is still at large.

Assistant police inspector Sayyed Asef, who is in charge of the Neknoor police station, said, “Around 2.30 pm on Sunday we received an anonymous call from the village informing us about the incident, so we rushed there. The mother of the victim told us that she had seen her daughter being raped by the uncle, who is also a neighbour,” he said.

“We rushed the victim to Beed civil hospital. The hospital staff confirmed that she had been raped and a case was registered against the accused. The victim’s mother also stated in her complaint that she had seen her daughter being raped by the uncle’s son as well, but had not reported the incident, fearing social stigma,” said Sayyed. The case was registered on Sunday night and the uncle was arrested on Monday around 5 am near Kada village, 100 km from Beed, Sayyed added.

Soon after the incident, senior police officials, including Beed superintendent of police Dattatreya Mandlik and deputy superintendent of police Akhilesh Kumar, visited the spot and formed teams to nab the second accused. “We will soon arrest the cousin who has been on the run since Sunday,” he said.

The victim’s mother also stated in her complaint that she had seen her daughter being raped by the uncle’s son as well, but had not reported the incident, fearing social stigma. The hospital staff also confirmed that she had been raped and a case was registered.