4 rape woman near Kurla station, held

MUMBAI: A 33-year-old Worli resident, who was heading from Kurla station to Lokmanya Tilak Terminus to board a train to Madhya Pradesh, was allegedly raped by four men near the station area on Monday night.

Locals helped catch the four – Sonu Tiwari, 24, and Nilesh Baraskar, 25, Siddhart Wagh, 24, an autorickshaw driver; and Shrikant Bhogale, 29, a delivery boy – from the area and handed them over the police.

According to police, the woman, a widow, was travelling alone to Katni in Madhya Pradesh to meet her in-laws. As she did not know the way to LTT from Kurla station, she asked a passer-by for directions. The man, too, was heading to LTT. They started to walk together along the harbour line railway tracks.

However, midway, the woman stopped to relieve herself at a secluded spot near Sable Nagar slums and the passer-by walked ahead.

Tiwari and Baraskar then accosted the woman and allegedly raped her, said police. Spotting the men with the woman,

Wagh and Bhogale, who were passing by, stopped and allegedly raped her too, said police.

“All accused live nearby and knew each other,” said Vilas Shinde, senior inspector, Nehru Nagar police.

According to the complaint, the accused took away her gold mangalsutra worth ₹25,000 and ₹3,000 in cash and fled.

When the woman was walking along the tracks, another woman noticed her and enquired what had happened. The survivor narrated the ordeal to her, after which she called the police control room and reported the incident. She then helped the survivor identify two of the accused, who were roaming in the area.

A passer-by and few other locals helped catch the duo while they were trying to flee. The duo gave details of the other two to the police, leading to their arrests.

The survivor was taken to a government hospital for a medical check-up.

The Nehru Nagar police have booked the four under sections 376D (gang-rape), 377 (unnatural sex) and 394 (causing hurt during robbery) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).