Team Herald
PANJIM: Old Goa Police arrested a Bijapur-native for allegedly raping a minor girl, after befriending her at Bagalkot railway station last month. Siddhappa Harmval, a daily wage construction worker was arrested following a complaint filed by the victim at Porvorim police station earlier this week.
“Harmval was returning to Goa from his native place when he saw the girl crying at Bhagalkot railway station. Since both are from the same village, he befriended her and promised to give her a job in Goa. They reached here on April 30 and both shared a rental premise, where he raped her,” a police officer said quoting the girl’s complaint copy.
Three days later, he said, the victim shared her ordeal with a local family at Porvorim who helped her to file a complaint at local PS. “The case was transferred to Old Goa PS as the alleged crime took place in the latter’s jurisdiction,” the officer said. The accused was arrested under section 376 (rape) of IPC and relevant sections of the Goa Children’s Act, and remanded to five day police custody.
