A 22-year-old woman was arrested on Sunday for allegedly kidnapping and sexually assaulting a child who was found near Mahalaxmi temple on Saturday. Investigators said the accused, Jyoti Kamble, was allegedly romantically involved with the girl’s father. As he refused to marry her, Kamble reportedly decided to kidnap the four-year-old girl from school and poison her. Kamble is a resident of Virar and stays close to the victim’s house.

Sources said Kamble kidnapped the girl from her school on Saturday morning, took her to a garden in Dadar where she offered her a drink spiked with some poisonous substance. The girl began to lose consciousness. “The accused then took her to Mahalaxmi temple. During a cab journey, she sexually assaulted her,” said an officer. Kamble has been booked under sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (2) (I) (rape) and 377 (unnatural offence) of the Indian Penal Code, along with sections 4, 6 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act.

Deputy Superintendent of Police Jayant Bajbale (Palghar) confirmed that a case has been registered with Arnala police station and added that the accused was arrested on Sunday. An officer said: “She initially studied the four-year-old’s daily routine, following which she kidnapped the minor from her school around 10.30 am on Saturday under the pretext of giving her food.”

After kidnapping her, Kamble and the girl reportedly boarded a train from Virar and alighted at Dadar. Then she took the girl to Mahalaxmi in a taxi. There the woman asked her to wait at a particular place promising that she would bring food, said an officer. Later, the child was spotted in a semi-conscious state by a police constable, who took her to the Breach Candy Hospital. Doctors said the child had injuries on her private parts.

Gamdevi police registered a case. “The girl was in school uniform. We contacted the school principal and called her to the hospital. The principal identified the girl. Then we contacted the girl’s parents,” said an officer. The police have recovered CCTV footage in which the girl can be seen walking with a woman near Mumbai Central station.

“The footage was shown to the child’s mother who identified the accused. A team was dispatched to her address in Virar and the woman was taken in custody,” said an officer. The child is undergoing treatment in hospital.

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