2 held for raping mentally challenged woman

Santacruz police arrested a school bus cleaner on the charges of sexually abusing a 35-year-old mentally challenged woman inside the school bus. The cleaner, who is identified as Shivprasad Yadav, 26, has also allegedly shown obscene pictures to other children during their journey to the ‘special school’, Santacruz police official said on Wednesday.

The police has also arrested the bus driver, Sandip Mishra, 29, for not informing their parents and the school authorities despite having knowledge of the incident.

According to the police, the victim a resident of Tagore Road in Santacruz, travels to her ‘special school’ in Juhu in a private school bus. The incident came to light when the woman narrated the incident to her mother.

The victim told her mother that, on her way to school in December, Yadav made her to remove her clothes. He then removed his own clothes as well and sexually abused her. She further said that Yadav also inserted a plastic bottle in her private part and asked her to urinate in the bottle. She said Yadav showed some obscene pictures to other school children present in the bus.

After hearing the ordeal, her mother approached the Santacruz police and registered and offence under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections of molestation (354), rape (376, C) and under the sections of Protection of Children from Sexual Offences act (POCSO).

Soon after the offence was registered, the police arrested Yadav and the driver of the bus, Mishra. They were produced before the court on Wednesday, which remanded them to police custody for two days.

“We are investigation whether Yadav was a repeated offender and if he has done similar thing to other children or not,” said an officer from the Santacruz police station.