One held, 4 identified in Mumbai gang-rape

 The myth of Mumbai being a safe city for women has once again been shattered, after five people allegedly gang-raped a 23-year-old intern with a magazine inside the desolate and abandoned Shakti Mills Compound, barely 500 metres from the famous Mahalaxmi Race Course in south-central Mumbai.

Mumbai Police chief Satyapal Singh on Friday claimed that one of the alleged rapists had been nabbed, and has revealed the names of his four accomplices. Refusing to give details of the arrested, the police released the sketches of all the accused who carried out the ghastly crime.

Describing the incident as “horrific,” Singh said he was optimistic that the perpetrators would be nabbed soon as investigating teams have pinpointed all their possible hideouts, and all police stations have put out a lookout notice for the youths who are in their early 20s. “They are local goons with police records,” he added.

Giving a blow-by-blow account of the crime, based on the version of the victims, Singh said that the incident took place between 6 pm and 7 pm on Thursday. “The victim had gone from Mahalaxmi Railway Station to the Shakti Mills Compound along with another colleague on an assignment. She was clicking photos with her mobile phone when two persons confronted them and accused them of trespassing on railway property. The duo then accused the male companion of being a possible suspect in some murder that had taken place inside the mills.

“One of them then made a call from his mobile, and three others soon reached the spot. They trussed up the male companion with a belt on the pretext that they wanted to question him separately. The woman was then taken to a nearby growth of wild shrubs and raped.”

Singh said that the victims then called up their relatives and colleagues, after which the girl was rushed to Jaslok Hospital, from where the police learnt about the crime.

 “A complaint was registered at the N M Joshi Marg Police Station and we formed 20 teams, giving each of them a specific task.”

According to the Jaslok Hospital spokesperson, “The girl is stable and has undergone a surgery. However, she is under mental trauma. She is still in mental shock, but she is talking.”  Earlier in the day, state Home Minister R R Patil visited the hospital and spoke to the victims. Later, at a press meet, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan announced that the entire medical expenses of the victim would be borne by the state government.

The sexual assault comes barely five days after an American woman working with an NGO reported being mugged on a local train.

Meanwhile, city-based journalists, under the banner of Mumbai Press Club, held a dharna at Hutatma Chowk (Flora Fountain) in the heart of south Mumbai. Other parts of the city also witnessed several demonstrations and protests condemning the rape.

Several women’s rights groups held dharnas condemning the rape as well as the increasing number of gender-related attacks in the city.

The opposition political parties also took to streets, with the Shiv Sena blaming “outsiders” as the root of the problem and Maharashtra Navnirman Sena stating that the present government “was weak”.