A tailor accused of molesting two minor girls in Delhi has confessed to sexually abusing around 500 children over 12 years. By arresting him, the police said that three rape cases had been solved. The accused was sent to judicial custody for 14 days by a Delhi court on Monday.
"The accused paedophile we arrested is Sunil Rastogi, who is a tailor by profession. He is married with children," said Omvir Bishnoi, DCP East Delhi.
He confessed to attempted assault on more than 2,500 minors during 12 years and was also jailed in Rudrapur, Uttarakhand, in 2006. He said that he lured girls and took them to isolated spots where he would sexually assault them. If they resisted, he'd leave them and leave Delhi. Sometimes, he would blackmail victims to return to him. The police has set up a special investigation team to look for those whom he assaulted as most of those crimes went unreported.
His victims spanned Delhi, west Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. He would mostly target girls going back home from school, the police said.
He has been linked to six cases, three in Delhi, two in Rudrapur and one in Bilaspur district.
In 2004, he and his family were reportedly forced to leave east Delhi's Mayur Vihar after he attempted to assault a neighbour's daughter.
He was arrested after he sexually assaulted a 10-year-old girl who was returning from school. Her parents got suspicious of her behaviour and counselled her when the girl revealed what had happened to her.
The police started a search for Rastogi based on her description. Meanwhile, on January 12, a case of attempted assault against two minor girls was reported in New Ashok Nagar police station. The two girls, 9 and 10, were returning from tuition classes when he lured them saying he'd give them new clothes. He took them to an under-construction building and attempted to assault them there when they raised an alarm.
"A team led by sub-inspector Sandeep from New Ashok Nagar police station was tasked to track him down thereafter and he was arrested from a hideout near the Kondli village," Bishnoi added.
Rastogi confessed to sexually abusing children since 2004. He had come to Delhi in 1990 with his parents and worked with his father, who was also a tailor. He had later taken up a job near Mayur Vihar.
He and his family had moved to Rudrapur where he assaulted a girl working on a farm and was jailed for six months. They were thrown out of Rudrapur and moved to Bilaspur, from where he would come to Delhi looking for jobs.
