A 16-year-old girl from the district was allegedly kidnapped and raped by a youth who took her to Ludhiana from where she was rescued, police said.
The girl, a resident of Kalyan-Malang Gadh road in Dombivili area of Thane, went missing on March 18. Initially, her parents filed a missing complaint.
When she was not found, the complaint was converted under relevant sections for abduction, said senior police inspector G S Randive of Manpada police station.
During probe in the matter, police tracked the girl and the youth to Ludhiana in Punjab while trying to gather their mobile phone locations, he said.
A police team from Dombivili then rushed to Ludhiana and rescued the girl on April 7. The youth, identified as Manish Munnilal Mourya (22), was subsequently arrested, Randive said.
As per the complaint, the accused, employed as a supervisor with a company in Dombivili, wooed the girl staying in her neighbourhood on the pretext of marrying her.
He took the girl to UP, Bihar and various other places prior to landing in Ludhiana where he did some odd jobs for livelihood.
During this period, the girl was allegedly raped by the accused on a number of occasions, police said.
The police team along with the girl and the youth reached Dombivili on April 8, Randive said.
On April 9, the accused was produced in court which remanded him in police custody for seven days.
The accused has been charged under sections 363 (kidnapping) and 376 (rape) of IPC and also sections 4 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, police added.
