Man held for pouring petrol on woman to take back rape case

A 28-year-old hotelier from Mira Road has been arrested for allegedly pouring a deadly mix of petrol and kerosene on a 26-year-old woman, in an attempt to set her

A 28-year-old hotelier from Mira Road has been arrested for allegedly pouring a deadly mix of petrol and kerosene on a 26-year-old woman, in an attempt to set her alight. However, on seeing a crowd coming to the aid of the victim, the accused fled the spot.

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The man wanted the victim to withdraw a rape case filed against him in mid-January, but the woman refused to do so, following which, he doused her in the flammable liquid. The woman suffered eye injuries and has been admitted to Bhimsen Joshi Civic Hospital in Bhayander.

“Ishrat Ali alias Sonu, who runs an eatery and is a resident of Naya Nagar in Mira Road, approached the victim on Friday night and poured the flammable liquid on her near an electric supply substation in Kashimira while the woman was walking with her two children to buy groceries,” said Sanjay Hazare, senior inspector, Kashimira police station. The accused allegedly asked her to sign a typed declaration on a ₹100 stamp paper claiming that she had no objection to the withdrawal of the case.

“Ali wanted the victim to withdraw a rape complaint filed before us on 19 January but the victim refused so he took revenge. After the incident, while the accused attempted to flee on a motorbike, locals came to the rescue of the woman and rushed her to the civic hospital after she suffered injuries to her eyes. The accused was about to set her aflame but seeing the crowd, he fled,” said Hazare.

“On Saturday the victim registered a fresh case with us and we began the investigation. We got information that Sonu was hiding in Ahmedabad after we went through his phone records and on Monday we sent a team to Ahmedabad to arrest him. He was produced before the Thane court on Tuesday and has been remanded in police custody till February 7,” said the officer.

According to the police, the accused and the victim were allegedly in a live-in relationship which turned sour after he began assaulting her. She filed a rape case on January 19 and stopped taking his calls or responding to his messages.