JOIN USThe victim was raped by four men, including three brothers distantly related to her, at her Adarsh Gharkul building residence in the Antop Hill locality of central Mumbai on Monday and then set ablaze. She succumbed to burns at a city hospital on Tuesday morning during treatment.
The accused, identified as Rajesh Devendra (30), Kumar Devendra (28), Nitya Devendra (25)— (all the three are brothers) —and their friend Shankar Mudaliyar (35) have been arrested.
Though the police said the exact motive behind the cruel act was being investigated, a relative alleged she was killed as the family had rejected Nitya Devendra’s proposal to marry her a few years ago.
“According to the victim’s dying declaration, the four raped her one by one. When she told them that she will lodge a police complaint, they set her on fire after pouring kerosene,” said senior inspector D N Deokar.
The victim’s husband Raju Devendra, who works as a sweeper in civic body office in suburban Chembur, and her two children — a three-year-old daughter and an infant son — were not present in the house when the incident occurred, Deokar said. He said the four were arrested on the basis of her dying declaration. The accused brothers live in the same building while their friend Mudaliyar stays in the same locality.