Woman thrashes 4-yr-old girl, held

MUMBAI: The Trombay police arrested a woman for beating up a four-year-old girl in her building lift on Wednesday afternoon.

According to police, the incident was captured on CCTV cameras. It showed the accused, Rizwana Begum Mohamed Rais, entering the lift with the girl at around 4pm.

“Rizwana closed the lift door and began to hit and kick the girl. She then forced the girl to the ground and sat on her,” said a police officer from Trombay police station.

He said as the lift reached the fourth floor, the girl’s mother incidentally happened to open the door as she was going down to bring her daughter home. “The mother saw the woman sitting on her daughter, but before she could do anything, the lift door closed. She then rushed to the seventh floor. There was already a man waiting for the lift. When he tried entering, Rizwana attempted to shut the door. But residents had gathered by now and they fought back. Two men rescued the girl,” the officer said.

While police said that robbery was Rizwana’s motive, a resident, on condition of anonymity, said they suspect superstition as the woman was chanting something.

“The woman robbed the girl’s earrings and we arrested her under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code,” said Prakash Salvi, senior police inspector, Trombay police station. The girl was in shock after the incident, but she is well, police said.