While Huma has been charged with kidnapping and attempt to murder, Sheikh has been booked for rape and attempt to murder, according to Senior Police Inspector Mukund Mahajan of the Mira Road police station.

According to the police, the 12-year-old girl’s mother used to work as a maid servant for Huma when she was staying at Beverly Park, Mira Road a few years back. “As her mother was working there, the girl used to regularly go to Huma’s residence and was well acquainted with her. In June 2007, Huma shifted to Undri in Pune and took the girl along with the promise of hiring her as a maid and making monthly payments to her mother,” said Mahajan.

According to Mahajan, in Pune, Huma got acquainted with Sheikh, a Pune resident, who she calls her “rakhi brother” and who then started staying with her. At Huma’s residence, the 12-year-old was constantly tortured and beaten up by Huma for the slightest of reasons, said Mahajan.

“The wounds on the girl’s body are terrible. It is highly evident that she had been beaten mercilessly and also singed with lit cigarettes on almost all parts of her body, including her tongue. The girl claimed she was raped by Sheikh. She told us that she had been raped three times by him during the period she was in Pune,” Mahajan said.

The girl’s mother was unaware of the situation, as she was getting paid on a monthly basis and whenever she called up Huma’s house, the 12-year-old was threatened by Huma and Sheikh not to reveal anything to her, Mahajan said. “The matter came to light when the girl was packed off in a train to Mumbai by Huma on the night of February 23. When the girl reached Mumbai, she somehow managed to get home and told her mother about the torture she had undergone in Pune. Based on the girl’s statement, a complaint was filed against Huma and Sheikh and a team was sent to Pune to arrest them and bring them back,” he said.

The duo were arrested and brought to Mumbai. “The girl has been admitted to the Thane Civil Hospital for treatment as the injuries on her body, including her private parts, are quite severe. Huma has been sent to the JJ Hospital for a checkup,” Mahajan said.