Main accused in Russian minor’s rape arrested

PANAJI - Aman Bharadwaj, the main accused in the rape of a Russian minor girl, has been arrested in Chembur, in Mumbai, Goa police said Friday evening.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji, Deputy Inspector General of police Ravindra Yadav said Bharadwaj was arrested by a Goa police team in Chembur Friday evening.

“We had got a tip off that he was in Chembur. Our team picked him up, They are on their way back,” Yadav said.

The police have already arrested Anil Raghuvanshi, the second accused in the Jan 26 rape, at a city bus stand in the morning. Bharadwaj and Raghuvanshi, both employees of a pharmaceutical company in Dhargal, 45 km from here, are accused of raping a nine-year-old Russian girl at Arambol beach.

In her complaint to the Goa police, the victim’s mother had alleged that while Raghuvanshi had distracted her with conversation, Bharadwaj had raped her daughter who was bathing in the sea.

The complaint had triggered a nationwide media debate on the safety of women, especially women tourists in Goa. The union tourism ministry had shot off a letter to the state government seeking details on the issue of safety of tourists in the state.

The Russian embassy had also warned of issuing a tourist advisory against Goa, if the state authorities could not spruce up their act. This is not the first instance of a crime against a Russian woman in the tourist state.

A 25-year-old Russian woman was raped by a Goan politician in December last year.

Police have also been unable to crack the mysterious death of Russian teenager Elena Sukhonova, whose mangled body was found on the railway tracks near Thivim, 25 km from Panaji.

Nearly 40,000 Russian tourists visit Goa annually.