"I can't believe cops from three different cities are unable to catch the child rapist who has preyed on so many children," said the mother of a 10-year-old who was assaulted by the pervert in Kharghar in 2017. "My daughter still gets scared whenever any stranger looks at her. She keeps asking if the cops have caught him." The pervert has preyed on more than a dozen children over the last two years, but cops are no closer to finding him.

Since 2016, the unidentified paedophile has raped or abused at least 15 children across Thane, Navi Mumbai and, more recently, Nalasopara. The police in all three cities (Palghar commissionerate in the case of Nalasopara) are searching for the pervert, but are yet to make any headway. Parents of survivors have urged for the formation of a special squad from all three commissionerates to find and arrest the rapist.