Caught on CCTV: One-eyed serial child molester targets 13-yr-old girl

The serial molester who has been targeting children is at work again On Monday afternoon he assaulted his eighth victim a 13year old while she was on her way home from school in SionThe accused with the distinguishing feature of a damaged eye mdash it is completely white mdash has been in operation for six months now but is still at large The policersquos efforts to track him down seem to be limp at best even as parents are terrified for their schoolgoing childrenCCTV footage shows the serial molester luring the minor girl in SionThis paper had reported about the man who sexually attacks girls in the 815 age group The first incident was reported in October last year in the western suburbs see box But with his latest strike he seems to have broadened his hunting ground eastward to Sion raising alarmThe only substantial action from the cops came in January in the form of a circular Police stations in the cityrsquos western suburbs were informed of the accused and were asked to stake out isolated places and slums where the culprit is known to carry out the crimes Sketches of the accused were put up at public places asking the citizenry to beware and inform cops if they spotted himCreepy The man who has one white eye has been caught on CCTV talking to the girl who is riding a cycle He then asks her to follow himNot a lot But molestation reports kept streaming in even as none of the police teams have been able to glean a clue Worse some tried to explain it away citing the upcoming Lok Sabha elections ldquoCurrently the different teams formed at the level of police stations to nab the accused are busy with poll dutyrdquo said an officer from DN Nagar police stationLax approachThe sketch of the accused circulated by the policeWe learnt that only DN Nagar police formed teams to nab the culprit but not before pressure built up on them after he struck in their jurisdictionSenior Inspector HR Parmale of Versova police station could not even recollect this case When contacted for comment he said ldquoI donrsquot remember it off hand It took place six to seven months agordquoCrucial CCTV footageMeanwhile cops have made a clip based on CCTV footage showing the accused with a girl he later molested They are also spreading awareness among parents about how to preempt any possible attacks Related seminars were held twice in Andheri and once in Bandra recentlyOff the record police officers admitted that they are mostly in the dark as far as the accused is concerned An officer from Amboli police station said ldquoWe have no leads in the case In fact we donrsquot even have a clear picture of the accused At the time of the incident we had rounded up drug addicts and other people but none were chargedrdquoHowever Additional Commissioner of Police Milind Bharambe West Region claimed to be ldquovery much aware of the caserdquo He said ldquoWe have provided inputs to the Sion police and are hunting for the accused Currently no special team has been made but our teams at police station level are trying to nab the accused We have few a clues and hope to track the accusedrdquoLatest strikeOn Monday when the 13yearold girl was on her way home from school the accused accosted her and told her he knew her father and had been sent by him to bring her to his office He then led her to a desolate spot and attacked her sexually and physically He threatened her into keeping mum and fled the spot all under seven minutesA woman passing byspotted the inconsolable child and took her to her parentsWhile lodging the complaint the girl told the cops that her aggressor had one damaged eye When the police showed her the CCTV footage of the oneeyed molester she identified himModus operandiHe approaches his target and tells her he is a friend of her fatherrsquos and wants to give a message He then takes the girl to an isolated place After molesting her he leaves the spot and escapes within minutesFirst incident 6 months agoThe first incident involving the accused was reported from Vakola in October The suspect approached an 8yearold girl and after telling her he was her fatherrsquos friend took her to an isolated place stripped and molested her and fled the spot The traumatised child told her parents about the incident after which a case was registered with Vakola police The police rounded up several drug addicts and habitual offenders but none was identified by the girl Cops then made a sketch based on the description provided by the girl It was sent out to all the suburban police stationsHe then went on to attack young girls in Vakola October DN Nagar area January Amboli March 9 Andheri March 27 then two more areas and finally Sion