19-year-old woman raped on BARC premises in Chembur, 2 arrested

Two persons arrested for sexually assaulting a 19-year-old student at BARC staff quarters in Chembur; accused allegedly spiked her drink and raped her.

Mumbai: Two persons have been arrested on charges of sexually assaulting a 19-year-old student at the staff quarters of Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) in Chembur, police said.

HT Image

A senior police officer said the incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday when one of the accused, 26, whose father works at BARC, and his friend, 30, had been partying at the former’s residence since Wednesday night.

The woman in her complaint said the quarters she was living in was a few metres away from the room of the 26-year-old who she had known for some time. Around 10 pm on Thursday, she needed some kitchen ingredients for cooking, and she went to the accused’s house. On his invitation, she decided to join the party. She alleged that the duo spiked her soft drink after which she became unconscious and they raped her, the complainant said.

When she regained consciousness, she came home and later narrated the incident to her male friend who lives in Chembur, and both approached the police. The police filed an FIR under section 376 (punishment for rape), 376 D (gang-rape), 328 (causing hurt by means of poison), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code on Thursday and arrested the accused on Friday, the officer quoted above said.

The two were produced before a court which sent them to police custody till Monday.

Several pieces of evidence such as the bottles of soft drink have been collected from the accused’s residence and have been sent for a chemical analysis to the forensic science laboratory in Kalina, the police officer said and added that the woman refused to undergo a medical test.

The woman’s family lives in Boisar in Palghar district. The police are now trying to find out how she is living in a BARC quarter.