Suspects’ sketches released

The abduction and rape of a mentally unstable 21-year-old woman in the wee hours on Monday has put another dent in Mumbai’s image as a women-safe city.

The abduction and rape of a mentally unstable 21-year-old woman in the wee hours on Monday has put another dent in Mumbai’s image as a women-safe city.

According to the police, the woman was picked up from near a road in Chembur and dumped in the Chunabhatti area around an hour later.

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She was found wandering around by beat marshals on night duty and taken to Sion hospital. A case of rape and abduction was registered against the unidentified men after medical reports confirmed rape.

Additional commissioner of police (east region) Qaiser Khalid said, “We are on the lookout for three persons, including the driver of the auto-rickshaw in which the victim was abducted and raped.” He added that based on whatever the traumatised victim could recollect, officers of the RCF police station in Chembur, where a formal complaint has been registered, have prepared sketches of the accused.

According to the police, the incident took place between 2am and 2.30am when the woman left her Vashi Naka home purportedly to visit her mother, who lives in Chunabhatti.

The police learnt that the woman had been raped only on Monday afternoon when she told her mother about it after being discharged from the hospital, who then filed a police complaint.

Probe Hampered

The investigations are moving slowly as the victim has gone into a shell and the police are not yet completely clear about the sequence of events. An officer from the RCF police said, “In cases of rape, the victim is traumatised and finds it difficult to narrate the incident. We let them confide in family members initially.”

Talking about the case, the officer said, “The victim does not remember much about the incident. We managed to prepare sketches of the accused based on basic information.” In this case, the victim is also mentally unstable so the police don’t want to stress her further.

“We have started investigations on our own and are questioning auto-rickshaw drivers in the area to get some leads,” added the officer.