IAS officer arrested for raping, molesting minor girls in Pune

Mangalore Today News Network

Pune, March 20, 2015: An IAS officer was arrested on Thursday for allegedly raping and molesting four minor girls in Pune. The accused MH Sawant is currently serving as the Director General of the Maharashtra Council of Agricultural Education and Research (MCAER).

All the girls are the residents of a slum near Sawant’s home in Sinhagad in the city.

The accused lives in his another house at Shivaji Nagar but often visited the flat at Sinhagad, which belongs to his in-laws.

According to one of the victims, Sawant use to call the girls to his building basement on the pretext of giving them food and chocolates. Girls said that he showed them obscene pictures on his computer and then molested.

One of the victims also accused the 58-year-old promoted IAS officer of raping her.

The incident came to light after one of the girls narrated the whole incident to her school teacher.

"The suspect has been sexually assaulting the girls for the past few days. He used to call them over to his building basement on the pretext of offering them food. The incident came to light after the girls told their school teacher, who informed the principal," said Baba Dhumal, President of Pune Education Board.
                               
Medical test report is still awaited but the police have arrested the accused and likely to be produced in the court today.

The accused, who was promoted to the IAS cadre in 1998, has been posted in various departments including sports, social welfare and agriculture in Pune.

Courtesy: Indiatoday