Thane, March 18 Police have arrested a 15-year-old tribal girl's "husband" along with three others for allegedly abducting, marrying, and sexually assaulting her in Thane district, Maharashtra, officials said on Wednesday.
The minor was allegedly abducted from Bhiwandi in Thane and "sold" to a man under the guise of marriage in the Beed district in the Marathwada region, they said.
"The victim was exploited due to her extreme poverty and the absence of her parents. She was allegedly abducted on February 26 by a broker and his associates who promised her a better life through marriage, only to sell her to an older man in Patoda, Beed," a Thane rural police official said.
The minor was allegedly forced into an illegal marriage on February 27 after being threatened. Between February 27 and March 10, her "husband," Bhausaheb Tambe, allegedly kept her locked in a farm shed and raped her, the FIR stated.
Following an investigation, the police apprehended Tambe and three other persons, hailing from Beed and Bhiwandi, Padgha police station inspector Jitendra Thakur said.
The accused have been booked under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, the Prevention of Child Marriage Act, and the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, a police spokesperson said.