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Panvel Taluka Police book 3 for alleged gangrape of 35-year-old woman
The survivor had fallen for a WhatsApp forward offering the job as a cleaner in a government hospital at ₹17,000 salary; 3 persons have been booked for alleged gangrape of the woman in Panvel
Three persons including a woman have been booked by the Panvel Taluka Police for the alleged gangrape of a 35-year-old woman. They have also been booked under sections of Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.
The survivor, who hailed from Pandharpur, had fallen for a WhatsApp forward offering the job as a cleaner in a government hospital. The woman had lost work as house help during lockdown and when she saw a message that said, ‘If in need of work, call the number,’ she trusted and called the number.
The caller promised her a job with ₹17,000 salary as cleaner at a government hospital and gave the address to meet him in Panvel.
The survivor said, “I managed to reach the said address, which was of a hotel, on September 18. After reaching the room in the hotel, a lady identified as ‘Baby’, gave me juice to drink and there were two men who told me that I could earn as much as I wanted if I agreed to sleep with various men. They asked me if I would work from a lodge or a hotel. I denied their offer and as I started to leave, I fell unconscious. When I woke up, I realised I was raped by the two men.”
She then left the hotel and called her friend in Pune who asked her to come there. On September 23, her friend took her to Vimantal police station and registered a case against the trio whom the victim identified as Gulam Shaikh, Shetty and ‘Baby’. The trio was booked under gangrape sections and under Atrocity Act. The case was later transferred to Panvel Taluka police station.
“I was called by the Panvel Taluka police for punchnama of the hotel and to identify the lady named ‘Baby’. On that day, the manager of the hotel said she had not reported. I feel the hotel people were trying to save her. If no arrests are made, I won’t hesitate to protest in Navi Mumbai,” she added.
The victim had not told her husband about the incident fearing that he might abandon her and their two children.
Further investigations are being done by ACP Bhagwat Sonawane. “The accused have fled and none has been arrested till now. We are looking for them,” a police officer said.