60-year-old confines, rapes mentally unstable woman
21-year-old mentally unstable woman was allegedly raped by a 60-year-old man who ran a cycle rickshaw repair shop in her neighbourhood in east Delhi’s Farsh Bazar on Sunday.
The accused, Prem, was allegedly caught red-handed and the woman was rescued from his shop, where he allegedly confined and raped her, said police. A resident of Shaheed Nagar in Ghaziabad, Prem ran his shop in New Sanjay Amar Colony area near Farsh Bazar.
A senior police officer said that the woman lived with her parents and other family members in the same locality.
Her mother works as a domestic help in nearby residential localities. Her father is a vegetable vendor.
On Sunday around 11.30am, she was alone at home as her parents were out for work and her siblings were also away. Prem was passing by her home when he found the woman alone. He allegedly lured her to his shop by telling her that she should not be alone and that he will take care of her till her parents return.
The woman accompanied him to his shop. Prem allegedly locked himself with her in the shop and forced himself on her. He also allegedly threatened to kill her if she raised an alarm or told anybody about the incident.
Meanwhile, the woman’s brother returned home and realised his sister was missing. He enquired about her in the neighbourhood.
One of the neighbours told him that he had seen Prem taking her towards his shop. The brother and some other neighbours went to the shop and found it locked from inside.
“The neighbours broke open the shop’s main door and found Prem in an objectionable position with the woman. They beat him up before her cousin called the police,” said the officer.
A police team reached the spot and took Prem into custody. The woman’s parents were also informed about the incident after which they arrived at the crime scene. The woman was sent to a nearby government hospital where medical examination confirmed rape.
Nupur Prasad, deputy commissioner of police (Shahdara), said that a case under sections 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent of secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement), and 376 (rape) of IPC was registered against Prem at the Farsh Bazar police station.
“We arrested Prem and produced him before a magistrate that sent him to judicial custody,” said Prasad. A local NGO was roped in for the woman’s counselling.
Police said the woman was mentally ill since childhood and was undergoing treatment at a hospital in east Delhi.