Five Held For Sexual Assault And Gang-Rape Of Mentally-Ill Girl

Thane: A 22-year-old mentally-ill girl from Lokmanya Nagar area was gang-raped by four persons, shortly after she was sexually assaulted by another man, police said on Monday. All the five accused have been arrested by police, although their identities have not been revealed so far.

"The incident had taken place on January 8 night and the arrests were made following a complaint lodged by the victim's family in this regard. The five accused, arrested were produced before a local magistrate who remanded them in police custody till January 16," Thane police spokesperson Gajanan Kabdule said.

According to police, the incident had taken place when the victim's mother sent her to a flour mill around 8 pm. However, instead of going to the mill, the victim went to the house of her sister's neighbour, who is a fruit-seller by profession. The man, who was alone at home, took her inside and then sexually assaulted her. He also threatened her with dire consequences if she revealed it to anybody, Kabdule said. Later, on her way home, an autorickshaw driver offered to drop her and asked her to get into the vehicle. The driver took her to a secluded place near Lok Manyanagar bus stop and called his three friends there.

All of them consumed liquor and also forced her to drink it. Thereafter, they pushed her into a stationary tempo parked nearby and raped her, in turns, Kabdule said. Later, the rickshaw driver drove her to a place near her house in the wee hours and also gave her his mobile number saying he would call her back, the policeman added.

Meanwhile, her mother launched a search as the girl did not return home and also filed a missing person report with Vartak Nagar police station. However, when the girl returned home early next morning, the family members asked her where she had been. The girl managed to explain to her mother through gestures what she went through, police said.

The next day, her mother took the girl to the police station and lodged a complaint, after which a case was registered. While four of the accused have been charged for gangrape, kidnapping and other sections of the IPC, the fruit-seller has been booked for rape. Further investigation into the case is on, police said.