Widow gang-raped twice same night

Mumbai: A 30-year-old widow was allegedly gang-raped twice the same night in Mankhurd while returning home in an inebriated state, the police said.

The incident took place on the intervening night of January 15 and 16 at two separate spots and one of the accused is a juvenile, the police said. The incident came to light af-ter the woman was coaxed into spilling the beans by a doctor who was treating her for a head injury.

The investigators said that the woman, who stays in the nearby slums, was addicted to toddy and drank regularly. On the fateful night, she was returning home when three persons, identified as Ajay Kamble (19), later apprehended from his native place; Sandeep Kamble (21); and a 17-year-old boy approached her.

The accused, who stay in the neighbourhood, asked the victim to step aside, subsequently forcing themselves upon her turn by turn, and sexually assaulting her. The police said that the woman was taken to an isolated spot nearby where auto rickshaws are parked at night.

“The caretaker who keeps tabs on the parked rickshaws was allegedly slapped and asked to leave the spot by the trio. Later, the woman was assaulted and she sustained a head injury,” said Nitin Bobade, senior inspector of Mankhurd police station.

The trio fled as the wom-an began walking home in a state of shock. However, two other persons, identified as Pranay Ingle (21), a student; and Amol Nirmal (18) bumped into her and again sexually assaulted her, the police said.

They took her to a building located metres away from the police station and raped her, the police said. She went to Shatabdi Hospital on January 16 to get her injuries treated.

Bobade said, “The doctor began questioning her about her injury when she went on to reveal her ordeal. The incident was reported to us and her medical examination also revealed that she had been sexually assaulted.”

The police first tracked down Ingle and Nirmal and then the other accu-sed. While the accused confessed to the crime, Nirmal claimed to have only held the victim’s hands while she was raped.

The police has sent the clothes of the accused and the victim along with her vaginal swab for a DNA analysis.