Mumbai–Woman gang-raped in front of male friend throughout night #VAW #WTFnews

ByVijay V Singh, TNN | Mar 15, 2013, 01.07 AM IST

MUMBAI: A 23-year-old woman was raped by four men through Wednesday night in the presence of her male friend at his home in Vile Parle (E). Her torture continued for more than five hours till her friend managed to hoodwink the accused and call up an acquaintance who led the police to the spot and got the four arrested.The accused, Rajesh Varma (21), Ramchandra Humbe (30), Krishna Kevat (31) and Mahesh Kewat (20), were produced in the Andheri magistrate court on Thursday. The court reprimanded the police for handling the case casually as they had not mentioned any strong point in the remand application. The officers had reportedly asked for the four’s custody stating that during the recording of witnesses’ statement, they wanted the accused in their custody to prevent them from threatening the witnesses. The court said such a request should have been made while opposing their bail application and not while demanding their remand. The magistrate subsequently remanded the four to police custody till March 20.Around 1.30am on Wednesday, a tourist taxi driver brought over his female friend to his chawl room at Sahar in Andheri (E); his wife and child were away to their village and he was alone at home. As the two walked towards the driver’s room, the four accused, notorious in the area for creating trouble, followed them, said the police.

The four, carrying alcohol bottles, barged into the room and accosted the man; brandishing a knife, they threatened him into silence, said the police. Even as three of the men pinned the driver down, one allegedly raped the woman.

After the first accused committed the crime, the four sat down and had a drink following which the remaining three took turns to allegedly rape the woman. The assault on the woman continued till morning when around 7am, the driver made an excuse of visiting the bathroom. From there, he called up his acquaintance. The friend approached the Vile Parle police who sent a team with him to the chawl. The four, who were still in the chawl room, were arrested and booked for gang rape, wrongful confinement and robbery.

The accused have confessed to have followed the victim and the driver to his room in the chawl.