Mumbai: The cab driver and his friend, who were arrested for allegedly raping a 30-year-old woman passenger, had trapped the woman by activating the child lock in the car, bought beer en-route Vajreshwari and were drunk while committing the crime, according to police sources. According to the police, the woman boarded the cab from Kashimira Naka for Thane around 7.15 pm on Tuesday.
The police arrested the duo within 24 hours. The police is looking for the cab driver’s involvement in other such crimes on the basis of the brazenness he exhibited after committing the crime — he had forced the survivor to disclose the ATM pin number and drew out cash of Rs 10,000 from her account.
The accused have been identified as Suresh Pandurang Gosavi (32) and his friend Umesh Jaswant Zaala (31). According to the police, Zaala was already seated in the car when the woman boarded it. Assuming it was a shared car, the woman did not raise questions about his presence. Later, Gosavi stopped the car near Chena bridge on the Ghodbunder-Thane road and under the pretext of fixing a knocking sound, engaged the child lock system so that the doors would not open, said police sources. He then drove to a beer shop before heading to Vrajeshwari where he parked the car on an isolated service road and raped the woman after threatening her. Zaala actively facilitated the crime for his friend, police said.
After forcefully getting her ATM PIN, the duo robbed her belongings including ornaments, mobile phone, debit card and Rs 6,000 cash before taking to her a lodge near Ganeshpuri at around 2 am.
After stepping out of the car, the woman mustered courage and raised an alarm, alerting the manager who rushed out of the lodge. Sensing trouble, the duo fled the spot. The woman narrated her ordeal to the lodge manager who immediately informed the local police station.
A complaint was registered by the woman at the Kashimira police station, following which a team led by senior police inspector- Vaibhav Shingare apprehended the duo within 24 hours.
Mr Shingare said, “The duo have been remanded to police custody till 26, December after they were produced before the district sessions court on Saturday evening.”
The issue of shared cabs
The horrifying incident has yet again exposed the blind eye turned by the authorities towards the hundreds of private car operators who are illegally ferrying passengers in and out of the twin-city on a share basis. “We will intensify our vigil on such operators,” said an official attached to the traffic wing.
