Italian woman’s rape: Juhu police file charge sheet

MUMBAI : The Juhu police on Friday submitted the charge sheet in the case of a 37-year-old Italian woman raped by a tourist guide. According to police, the charge sheet was submitted within 60 days of the case getting registered. Sources in the police said that the most clinching evidence to prove the presence of the 27-year-old accused, Rakesh Nandi Neelkanth, in the cab was given by the survivor herself as she somehow took multiple pictures of the accused in the cab while he sexually assaulted her.

Senior police inspector of Juhu police station, P Wavhal, has confirmed that they have submitted the chargesheet in a local court on Friday.

Police said that the woman also identified the accused in the identification parade, which further made the case stronger for the prosecution. Statements were taken of the taxi driver who took them from Juhu to south Mumbai. He confirmed the presence of the survivor and the accused in the cab.

Police said they also took the statement of a man from whom the accused had bought beer after stopping the cab while they were travelling towards south Mumbai.

The charge sheet also includes the statement of the tourist bus conductor who saw the accused and the survivor in the bus when it started from the Gateway of India.

The woman, in her statement to police, said she met the accused at the Gateway of India where she saw a tourist bus ready to leave for a city tour. She was then approached by the accused who introduced himself as a guide. She then instantly booked the bus tickets and appointed him as her guide.