Rickshaw driver accused of sexually assaulting 16-year-old runaway

Rajkot: A 16-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted and harassed by an autorickshaw driver near the state transport (ST) bus depot here, during her aborted attempt to run away from home, police said. The incident was reported late on Tuesday evening.An FIR was lodged at A Division police station against the rickshaw driver, alleging sexual assault and sexual harassment under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act.The FIR states that the girl, a Class 10 student, had initially planned to run away with a friend. When the friend refused to meet her near Madhapar Chowkdi she decided to go to a relative's house by a state transport bus.She took a rickshaw to the ST bus depot. While waiting for her phone to charge outside the depot, a bearded man, later identified as Sikandar Malani, 40, approached her. On learning that she intended to take a bus to Gondal and then to Nashik, he advised her to go to Surat first to get to Nashik faster.When the bus to Surat was found to be full, Malani allegedly touched her back and asked her why she was still there. He then offered to take her to Limda Chowk to catch a private bus. At the office of the private bus operator, he bought her a ticket and allegedly made inappropriate promises about finding her a job, urging her not to take the bus to Surat. He also offered her food and drink.Meanwhile, the girl's family, who were searching for her, arrived at Limda Chowk. The girl saw them first and told Malani to take her away as she did not want to go with them. He then allegedly took her in his rickshaw towards Navagam.The family asked a woman employee of the girl's school coax her to disclose her location. The employee then spoke to Malani on the girl's phone and told him to drop her off at an appropriate spot.Malani ultimately dropped her off at Ravki village, allegedly telling her not to disclose details of their interaction from the bus station onwards, according to the FIR. The family later found the girl at Ravki village.B V Borisagar, inspector of A Division police station, said, "We detained Sikandar Malani, 40, and will produce him in court on Friday. We are gathering CCTV footage to prove that he was taking the girl with him."