NCW team speaks to Sakinaka rape victim's kin, meets top cop for aid

The NCW team also met acting Maharashtra director general of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey and urged him to pay a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the victim’s family from the Nirbhaya fund and ensure her children have access to good education.

A team from the National Commission for Women (NCW) visited the family of the 32-year-old woman, who was raped and brutally assaulted in Sakinaka on Friday.

NCW members later went to the Sakinaka police station, the crime spot, and talked to doctors who treated the woman before she passed away

The team also met acting Maharashtra director general of Police (DGP) Sanjay Pandey and urged him to pay a compensation of ₹10 lakh to the victim’s family from the Nirbhaya fund and ensure her children have access to good education.

The rights body members later went to the Sakinaka police station, the crime spot and talked to doctors who treated the woman before she passed away on Saturday morning at Rajawadi hospital. "First, we went to the victim's house and met the family members. Then we went to the Sakinaka police station and from there with the police officials, we went to the crime spot and from there we visited the Rajawadi hospital to speak with the doctors who treated the victim," Chandramukhi Devi, a member of the NCW team, told reporters.

Devi said her team asked the DGP “to get the forensic science laboratory (FSL) report as early as possible and file a charge sheet in a fast track court to speed up the investigation process and get the culprits punished”.

The 32-year-old woman who was raped and assaulted with an iron rod in a parked tempo on September 10, succumbed to her injuries on Saturday morning after battling for her life for 33 hours at the state-run hospital. A 45-year-old pavement dweller was arrested after he was caught exiting the tempo on a CCTV camera nearby.

The accused has been booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 302 (murder), 376 (rape), 323 (assault) and 34 (common intention) and remanded in police custody till September 21. The motive behind the crime is not yet known as the victim’s statement could not be recorded.

An 11-member special investigation team (SIT), headed by a woman assistant commissioner of police heading the group, has been formed to deal with the case.

Sunday’s visit by NCW members came after Devi criticised Mumbai Police commissioner Hemant Nagrale for his comment that police cannot be present everywhere.