Rajkot: A 40-year-old man was arrested in Porbandar for allegedly raping a 20-year-old woman who has learning difficulties, multiple times, by taking advantage of the absence of her family members, police said.The accused, Hitesh Joshi, was booked at Kirti Mandir police station for aggravated rape and repeated rape and was arrested within a few hours of the complaint being lodged by the victim’s 18-year-old younger sister on Thursday.The complainant stated that her elder sister has a mental disability since birth and had received treatment at civil hospitals in Rajkot and Porbandar. The family has a medical certificate documenting her condition.On Wednesday, several family members had left the for work and other reasons. The complainant, her elder sister and their 14-year-old brother were at home. Around noon, when the complainant went downstairs, she saw Joshi sexually assaulting her sister. He got dressed and fled when she raised the alarm.The complainant later questioned her sister, who told her that Joshi had visited the house two or three times earlier, when other family members were away, and had forcibly had sexual relations with her. She also allegedly said that he had assaulted her on the day of the incident.After informing the family, the complainant’s mother and sister returned home. The family then took the woman to the police station and lodged the complaint.Police said Joshi had previously worked as a deckhand on the family’s boat.Investigating officer K V Parmar said medical examinations of the accused and the woman had been conducted. Police also collected circumstantial evidence in connection with the case.
