40-year-old woman promised job, sold and raped in Mumbai’s Malad

Two people, including a woman identified as Kusum, visited the survivor’s house on November 2 and said they have a job for her in a catering company.

A 40-year-old woman from Malad (East) in Mumbai was sold for Rs 2 lakh by a gang of traffickers after she was promised a job in a catering company and raped by the man she was forcibly married to in November, police have said.

Kurar Police said the woman from Uttar Pradesh worked as a cook while her husband is a carpenter. (Image for representation)

Officials said one of the gang members was arrested by police in Kurar on Monday after the woman was rescued last week. The member was identified as 22-year-old Vivek alias Vicki Jagid from Rajasthan.

Search is on for rest of the gang members, they added.

“Our investigations are on. We are looking into all possible angles but I cannot comment anything further at this stage,” deputy commissioner of police (zone XII), DS Swami said when asked if the gang had targeted more such women in the city looking for jobs.

Kurar Police said the woman from Uttar Pradesh worked as a cook while her husband is a carpenter.

Two people, including a woman identified as Kusum, visited the victim’s house on November 2 and said they have a job for her in a catering company. They said she would be paid handsomely for a 15-day assignment in another state.

The woman left home the next day and her family could speak to her only on November 7, when she called home. She told her husband that she was in Gujarat without a job and wished to come back.

There was no communication with her family after that and her phone remained out of service.

Her husband contacted the police on December 2 after he was told by one of the gang members that his wife had been was sold off and if he wanted her back, he would have to pay up Rs 2 lakh.

The police registered a case of extortion and kidnapping after the husband lodged a complaint. They used technical evidence and managed to trace the gang members to Malegaon, Nashik Gujarat and then Rajasthan.

A team of police was sent to Rajasthan where the victim was identified and rescued on December 4. The victim then shared the names of eight members of the gang, including two women.

“She said that she was trafficked, sold, forcibly married and raped,” a police official said.

Based on her statement, Kurar Police added charges of human trafficking and rape against the gang members and the man she was sold off to.