Police have arrested five in connection with a complaint lodged by a HIV positive 16-year-old girl who claimed that she was raped for two years and then forced to go through an abortion prcedure by staff at Sevalay shelter home
The Week, July 26, 2025 : Maharashtra police are investigating the complaint of a 16-year-old HIV positive girl who accused the staff at a residential facility at Latur of raping her repeatedly over the course of two years. They also forced her to go through an abortion after she was found pregnant, according to Latur police.
The girl stayed at Sevalay, a shelter and care home for HIV positive children at Hasegaon, which houses around 23 boys and seven girls. She filed a complaint at the Dhoki police station in Dharashiv district, stating that the assaults took place between July 13 2023, and July 23 this year, PTI reported, citing a police official.
The four arrested are Ravi Bapatle, the founder of Sevalay, Rachna Bapatle, and employees Amit Mahamuni and Pooja Waghmare. A doctor from Mamta Hospital in Latur also has a case registered against them and was arrested on Saturday, according to Maharashtra news. The employees at Sevalay work for free, according to their website
The official said, “As per her complaint, the child had been residing at the institution for the past two years. She was allegedly raped four times by an employee of the children’s home. He also threatened her not to disclose the ordeal to anyone.”
It was after that that the girl wrote a letter to the officials and dropped it in the complaint box. The Sevalay management, however, did not help her and Pooja Waghmare tore up the letter.
When the girl had fallen ill, she was taken to Mamta Hospital. A medical test revealed that she was four months pregnant. The accused then arranged for a doctor to perform an abortion procedure on her without consent, after which she was threatened, according to the official.
Police have taken action under the POCSO Act. According to Republic Bharat, the victim is undergoing treatment at the hospital. Some reports allege that the other girls at the shelter have also been abused.
The case has been transferred from the Dhoki police to the Ausa police.
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