Gangrape at RPF chowky in Diva: Four personnel suspended

Survivor told the police that one of the officers threatened to implicate her in a false case if she told anyone about the incident

A day after a 25-year-old woman alleged gangrape by Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel in January, four officers were suspended temporarily until investigation in this matter concluded. Initially, a case was registered with the Thane Government Railway Police (GRP) on Thursday. The accused have been identified as PK Singh, Baghel Singh, Dipak Rathod and BK Singh.

Thane deputy commissioner of police (crime) Parag Manere said, “The case has been transferred to Mumbra police station. The woman has undergone a medical examination. No one has been arrested yet.”

All four accused were booked under sections of 376 (punishment for rape) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison etc. with intent to commit an offence) of 34 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.None of them have been arrested so far.

The woman claimed she hails from Uttar Pradesh. She was married at a very young age, but left her husband because of frequent quarrels. In 2014, she started living with her parents. But she faced problems and came to Mumbai.

“She stayed at Kurla terminus for eight days. She was sent to a woman welfare centre and she started working in a beauty parlour in Dombivli. She shifted to Diva with a couple whom she knew,” said Inspector Shubdha Narkar.

The woman said last year she saw PK Singh’s name on his badge and thinking he was from her home town, started talking to him. “They exchanged phone numbers and kept in touch. The woman addressed Singh as uncle, who told her that he would help her get a job. The woman then started visiting the RPF chowky at Diva regularly,” said Narkar.

On January 15 , the woman claimed that Bhagel called her around 2 am and told her to come to police station because PK Singh wanted to meet her as he had met with an accident. “The woman claimed that when she reached the chowky, she found all the accused drinking alcohol and watching a porn film on a computer,” said Narkar.

A police inspector from Mumbra police station said, “The woman alleged that all four accused raped her after she fell unconscious after drinking a spiked beverage offered by them. She said PK Singh dragged her into the chowky when she tried to escape.”

The woman told the police that she regained consciousness around 4am, after which PK Singh threatened her not to disclose anything or he would implicate her in a false case and send her to jail. The woman alleged that he kept threatening her over phone following which she changed her phone number. Though scared, the woman mustered courage and filed a complaint on September 1 with the GRP commissioner.