Mumbai’s Sakinaka rape case accused sent to police custody till Sept 21

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray said that the crime, during which the assaulter inserted an iron rod in the private parts of the rape victim, will be tried in a fast-track court and that the state government will ensure strict punishment is handed out to the accused.

A court in Mumbai has sent the man accused of raping a 32-year-old woman and inserting an iron rod in her private parts in the Sakinaka area of the city to police custody till September 21, news agency ANI reported. The 45-year-old man was held early on Friday in connection with the case, which is being compared to the brutal sexual attack on another woman in Delhi in 2012.

Police said that the Sakinaka rape victim was found unconscious inside a parked auto-rickshaw at the spot.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced that the accused will be tried in a fast-track court. “I have asked [the] police to expedite the investigation. The case will be tried in a fast-track court and we will ensure strictest punishment is given to the perpetrator,” a statement issued by his office said.

Thackeray has also spoken to Maharashtra home minister Dilip Walse Patil and Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale about the case, according to the statement.

Maharashtra minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Nawab Malik echoed Thackeray on the matter and ensured a speedy probe. “Fast track court should be set up for this case and there should be a punishment that warns people against committing such a heinous crime and also conveys the state government’s stand on it,” Malik was quoted as saying by ANI.

He condoled the death of the rape victim, who succumbed to her injuries during treatment at a city hospital, and added that the state government will “definitely file a chargesheet within the time frame,” ANI reported.

Deputy commissioner of police, Zone 10, Maheshwar Reddy, said that they received a call at 3am regarding an injured couple on Khiarani Road in Sakinaka, Andheri East. The police found the woman lying unconscious inside a parked auto-rickshaw at the spot and when she was taken to the Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, doctors confirmed sexual assault. Citing the medical examination reports, police added that the woman was brutalised with the assaulter inserting an iron road in her private parts.

The accused has been booked under Sections 307, 376, 323 and 504 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).