MUMBAI: On Saturday afternoon, around 4 pm, a 42-year-old resident of Surat checked into a hotel on DB Marg in south Mumbai along with a 14-year-old girl, claiming to be his daughter.

It wasn’t until two hours later that the story broke when the man fell unconscious and was rushed to hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The police, who suspect that he died due to an overdose of some artificial stimulant, found that the girl’s father was paralyzed and he used to help the family financially, while her mother claimed that the deceased had sexually assaulted her minor daughter.

According to the police, the deceased lived in Surat with his wife and daughter and worked at a shop. He was friends with the girl’s father, who also lived in Surat and was undergoing treatment for paralysis. He often visited the girl’s house and helped the family financially so that they could bear the cost of the treatment.

On Saturday afternoon, the man checked into a hotel in south Mumbai along with the 14-year-old girl. “He forged the girl’s Aadhar card and mentioned her surname instead of hers to make it appear that she was his daughter,” said a police official.

Around 6:00 p.m., the girl let the hotel manager know that the man had become unconscious. Although the hotel staff informed the police and rushed him to hospital, he was declared dead on arrival, said Inspector Sanjay Gaikwad of DB Marg police station.

An autopsy was conducted at JJ Hospital and his viscera were preserved and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) in Kalina for chemical analysis, police officials said.

After a thorough investigation, the police informed the family of the deceased and the girl about the development. They also recorded the statement of the girl’s mother, who claimed that the deceased had sexually assaulted her daughter. The girl was later given a medical examination and a first information report was registered under sections 137(2), 64(1), 65(1), 336(2), 336(3) and 340(2) from the Bharatiya Nyaya. Sanhita along with the relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO).

“The post-mortem report is awaited. The viscera have been sent to Kalina and the cause of death will be clarified once the report comes,” Gaikwad said.