Accused in Saki Naka rape-murder case convicted

Nearly seven months after the brutal rape-murder in Saki Naka area of Mumbai that bore similarity to the Nirbhaya incident, a sessions court has convicted the accused. The quantum of punishment would be decided on June 1 by the City Civil and Sessions Court in Dindoshi.

The accused, Mohan Chauhan (45), hails from Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh.

The rape-murder incident took place on September 10 last year in the Khairani Road area of Saki Naka.

The victim was raped and brutalised inside an open tempo, after which the accused inserted an iron road into her private part rupturing her intestine, and left her to die.

A watchman alerted Mumbai Police's main control room about a man beating up a woman, 10 minutes after which a police team reached the spot and found the woman in a pool of blood.

The victim died in the civic-run Rajawadi Hospital after battling for life for 33 hours.

The accused was arrested within a day and booked under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

The case was investigated by Assistant Commissioner of Police Jyotsna Rasam, who headed the Special Investigation Team, Police Inspector Dattratray Dhume, and Assistant Police Inspector Mahesh Sangle. During the investigations, they recorded statements of 77 witnesses.

Special Public Prosecutor Raja Thakare, along with Advocate Mahesh Mule, represented the Mumbai Police.

The accused was represented by Advocate Kalpana Waskar.

The prosecution examined a total of 37 witnesses in the case. The police also relied on CCTV footage. The 345-page chargesheet was submitted on September 28, within 18 days of the incident.

The incident, which brought back the memories of the 2012 Delhi gangrape and murder, caused a huge outrage.

The Opposition BJP had accused the Shiv Sena-led MVA government of failing to protect women in Maharashtra which triggered a war of letters between state Governor B S Koshyari and Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray.