Goregaon hookah parlour owner booked in rape case

A 22-year-old woman has registered a rape and cheating case against the owner of Goregaon-based hookah parlour, which was recently in the limelight after a 26-year-old youth Mayur Panchal was killed there following a brawl between two groups last month.

The police said the owner of hookah parlour is still at large after a murder case was registered on October 21. The rape survivor in her complaint, registered at Goregaon police station, alleged that the owner had raped her on multiple occasions after promising to marry her.

“We have recorded the statement of woman. The woman has alleged that the lounge owner made physical relation with her on pretext of marrying her. But when she asked him to marry, the lounge owner stopped talking and meeting her. A case of rape and cheating has been registered and the matter is being probed,” said an officer attached to Goregaon police station.

Panchal and his friends were celebrating the birthday of one of their friends at the parlour in the wee hours of October 22 when a man from another group accidentally hit them. This led to a scuffle between the man and Panchal’s friends. The bouncers removed both the groups from the parlour. The verbal fight between the groups continued outside the parlour on SV Road. Their argument snowballed into fisticuffs and Panchal was stabbed by one of them. The incident took place between 4-4:30 am at the hookah parlour. Panchal was taken to hospital where he succumbed to the grievous injuries.

The police have named the owner, manager and several others in the FIR for running the parlour beyond the permissible time of 1.30 am.