A 30-year-old man was arrested near Calcutta on Thursday for allegedly trapping a minor girl from the steel city on the pretext of a talent hunt and raping her for a week at his home till she managed to escape.
Although the assault took place in July, police had not been able to trace Nitu Bhakta until recently. The resident of Madhyamgram in North 24-Parganas, Bengal, was brought here on Friday.
DSP (composite control room) Sudhir Kumar said Bhakta ran a dance cradle called Boogie Woogie in Madhyamgram, but used it mostly to lure underprivileged girls.
“He targeted young girls by placing talent hunt ads in newspapers. The selection trials were held at rural fairs. He preyed on his latest victim, the 14-year-old Bistupur resident, at a fair at Harina village in Potka, on the outskirts of the steel city. The girl went there after seeing a Boogie Woogie cradle ad,” the officer said.
The teenager, the daughter of a domestic help, was “selected to become the next dancing sensation” in the first week of July. Her unsuspecting parents let her accompany Bhakta for what they thought would change her life for the better.
“The accused first took her to Bundu, near Ranchi. Later, he took her to his house in Madhyamgram,” the DSP said.
Bhakta sent his wife away to her parents’ home and forced himself on the minor. “She was repeatedly assaulted for a week before she could muster courage and flee. She managed to reach Howrah station and take a train back to her hometown,” the officer said.
Back in Bistupur, she narrated her ordeal to her parents who lodged an FIR on July 16. A police team visited North 24-Parganas but couldn’t find Bhakta as the girl had a very vague idea of where he lived.
“We decided to put his mobile number on surveillance and traced him to Madhyamgram. A team arrested him yesterday. He was produced in a local court and brought on transit remand,” the DSP said.
Kumar added that interrogation suggested that Bhakta had lured some more girls from Jharkhand to Calcutta. “We will grill him further for details. He has been booked under Section 376 (rape) of the IPC and sections of the Pocso Act.”
