A 17-year-old girl’s mother has lodged a complaint with the Dadar Police, accusing a 23-year-old man, who works as an air conditioner mechanic, of sexually assaulting her teenage daughter under the pretext of marriage.

Based on the complaint, police registered a case of rape under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences against the accused, identified as Tushar Deepak Jadhav and arrested him on Thursday.

The minor girl stated that her aunt was undergoing treatment at Nair Hospital in September 2019. She used to visit her at the hospital. The accused befriended her when he had come to the hospital for servicing an air conditioner. They exchanged their phone numbers and began chatting.

The teenager said that on February 24, they met at Dadar’s Shivaji Park Chowpatty, where the accused sexually assaulted her on the pretext of marriage.  When the minor girl objected to Jadhav’s sexual advances, he convinced her, saying that he had informed his sister about their relationship and she would soon be taking to his parents for their marriage. Thereafter, he allegedly sexually assaulted on two to three occasions after calling her to Shivaji Park Chowpatty, according to a report by The Times of India.

In March, the girl discovered that Jadhav was having an affair with another girl, following which she informed her mother about it. Her mother then approached the Dadar Police and lodged a complaint against Jadhav.

Meanwhile, the accused man’s advocate Sunil Pandey refused the allegations levelled by the teenager, saying that a “false case” has been lodged against his client. He said that the complainant has registered a similar case against another person at another police station.