Man poses as ward boy, rapes woman in hospital

Mumbai: The Sion police arrested a person, who posed as a ward boy and allegedly raped a 37-year-old woman in Sion Hospital, on Saturday. The police said that the victim was attending to her sister who is undergoing treatment, when he approached her under the pretext of providing a form to get subsidy on the hospital bill and lured her to an isolated spot on the fifth floor to sexually assault her.

The accused was identified as Dipak Kunchikurve (31), a resident of Dharavi transit camp, who was on the run following the incident. The police said that the accused approached the woman when she was seated outside the ward and asked if she was in monetary distress. He then suggested her to fill up a form to get discount on the medical bill and offered to take her to the counter.

“The accused however took her to fifth floor of the OPD building of the hospital and sexually assaulted her near the staircase. The accused fled from the hospital and was not to be found,” said an officer of Sion police station.

When the woman reached the terrace, the man allegedly grabbed her and then forced himself on her. The woman said she tried hard to push him off, but he overpowered her. The later woman went downstairs and told a security official about what had happened.

After the incident was reported to the police, the investigators scanned the CCTV camera footage and identified the accused. The police then gathered his information and subsequently tracked him to Dharavi following specific tip off from informers.

The dean of Sion Hospital Dr Jayashree Mo-ndkar said, “The woman who was victimised was with her sister who is having some renal disorders and recuperating. The accused pretended to help posing as a ward boy.”

The woman hails from Pune and had come to Sion Hospital for the treatment of her sister who has a kidney ailment.

“The incident took place around 1 pm, after which security officials and the woman looked for the man around the hospital. After not finding the man, the woman went to the police station around 7 pm and registered a complaint,” said a police officer.

Kunchikurve has been booked under section 376 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code and has been remanded to judicial custody.  In preliminary investigation, the accused, who is a sweeper and does odd jobs in the area, claimed to be drunk at the time of incident.