Sunset savages in Mumbai Bengal boy helps in hunt | |||
| SAMYABRATA RAY GOSWAMI | |||
Mumbai, Aug. 23: The 22-year-old photojournalist gang-raped in an abandoned textile mill compound in Mumbai on Thursday evening was clicking the last few shots for her assignment when she was brutalised. Friday was the final day of her three-month internship with the Mumbai edition of a prominent lifestyle magazine. She had joined the internship programme after finishing a journalism course in Mumbai. Asked to work on a photo essay on abandoned spaces in Mumbai, Shakti Mills was one of her chosen spots of assignment. The mill is located in a lane near the busy Mahalaxmi Racecourse and is flanked by some of the tallest luxury residential towers in Mumbai. “She had already completed her work but was asked to get some sunset shots before submitting her assignment on Friday — the sunset period is considered a phase of golden light for photography,” said a source in the magazine. The mill, a kilometre away from the magazine office, was an ideal place to shoot. The girl reached the mill premises around 5.30pm. The sun does not set before 6.45pm in Mumbai around this time — and though the mill compound is deserted, the lane where it stands is not. “Still, when she decided to go, one of her fellow interns — a 23-year-old lad from Bengal — offered to accompany her,” said the source. Mumbai crime branch officials told The Telegraph that the boy’s inputs and his photographic memory had helped them identify the culprits quickly. “A lot of the credit goes to him — he is unafraid and is ready to be a witness. He gave us crucial details about the appearance and conversations of the accused,” said a senior crime branch officer. The young man’s parents have reached Mumbai. The rape survivor, who has suffered multiple internal injuries, is a Mumbai girl and lives with her mother in the suburbs. Soft-spoken and reserved, she was very diligent in the office, her colleagues said. Doctors attending to her at Jaslok Hospital said she was “in a stable state” and was not in intensive care. “She is able to communicate,” said Tarang Gianchandani, the hospital’s acting CEO and director of medical services. Magazine sources and police officers said the male intern had told them that he and his colleague were accosted by the accused inside the overgrown mill compound. “The attackers were very aggressive. They claimed to be railway policemen,” said a police officer. The attackers — there were five — asked the two interns why they were hanging around the place. The assailants said a murder had recently taken place at the spot. They turned to the young man and grabbed him and said he looked like the murderer. Then they tied his hands and feet with a belt. “He is a strong lad. Two of the five men pinned him to the ground while the other three dragged the girl about 20 feet away to a hall-like space and raped her. They then returned to relieve their two accomplices who were restraining the girl’s colleague. These two then raped the girl,” said the magazine source. After the assault, the five men ordered the photojournalists not to look back and to walk out of the mill premises. Gathering themselves, the two kept walking in a daze till they reached Mahalaxmi railway station — a busy commuter station opposite the Mahalaxmi Racecourse and 500 metres from the mill. “It was a little after 7pm. And the whole world passed us by in the heavy rush hour,” an officer quoted the rape survivor as telling the police. “The young man then called the magazine office and told his seniors about the incident. They advised them to rush to Jaslok multi-speciality hospital, about 3km away. He got the girl into a cab and took her to the hospital and admitted her around 8pm,” the source said. Other colleagues from the magazine also reached the hospital. The police arrived half an hour later. Police sources said the composure of the rape survivor, who recorded her statement last night, and the male colleague, who was taken to the scene of the crime by the investigators late in the night, had proved decisive in identifying the perpetrators. “The detailed statements given by the two helped artists draw sketches with 80 to 85 per cent accuracy, which helped identify the accused,” an officer said. The police have arrested one of the accused, Mohammed Abdul alias Chand, 20. Chand has named his four accomplices and confessed to the crime, the police said. “Of the five accused, four have criminal charges against them in various police stations. We are closing in on them and will get them soon,” said DCP Ambadas Pote. Mumbai police commissioner Satyapal Singh declined to divulge the names of the accused, citing the sensitivity of the case. However, the names were leaked soon after with police sources identifying the wanted suspects as Kasim Bangali, Salim, Asfaque and Vijay Jadhav. All the suspects are aged between 20 and 22 and lived near the mill. Fielding a question on the Shiv Sena blaming Bangladeshi immigrants for the rape, commissioner Singh said tonight: “All five accused are locals born in Mumbai; (they are) not Bangladeshis.” | |||
| ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY SATISH NANDGAONKAR |
Rapists should get life term for ruining my life: Victim
RELATED
MUMBAI: "I want no other woman in this city and country to go through such brutal physical humiliation. The perpetrators should be punished severely as they have ruined my life. No punishment short of a life term will take away my pain and the humiliation and physical abuse I underwent." This was the rape victim's first reaction as she spoke to her mother from the hospital bed soon after the gruesome rape assault on her by a gang of five in an abandoned mill compound.
The 22-year-old photojournalist said she wanted life imprisonment for all the perpetrators. "They have ruined my life and caused immense humiliation and physical pain," she is learned to have told her family. Barely 12 hours after the horrendous crime, she was displaying "tremendous courage", said a source close to the family. She was alert and closely monitoring each development as it unfolded on television in her hospital room.
The source told TOI she had started coming to terms with the assault. "She is mentally tough and determined to finish her project as it goes on display in the near future," said the source, suggesting that she would go back to the assignment she was working on for the national magazine. She has been working with the company as an intern for three-and-a-half months.
According to the source, after spending a very restless night, the victim had her first cup of tea only on Friday evening. "She was on drips the whole night and on Friday morning," said the relative adding that the news bulletins on TV only made her stronger. "She spent parts of the evening watching the news, which failed to ruffle her," the source said.
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The relative told TOI that her mother was initially unaware of the rape. "The victim herself called her up from the hospital and told her that she had met with a minor accident. The victim assured her mother that it was nothing to worry about as she did not want her mother to go through any trauma," the relative said.
The victim's mother suffered a shock on landing at the hospital and hearing about the news. "She was shattered and is still picking up the pieces. She continues to be in a state of shock and can't come to grips with the fact that such a heinous crime could be committed in a city like Mumbai," the relative said.
The victim also showed much courage in narrating how the perpetrators had tied her colleague's hands to his back and pinned him to the ground before punching and kicking him. "The culprits first grabbed their mobiles, took their bags and ran a quick inspection. Though they found a camera in her bag apart from the one the male colleague was using, they returned their belongings, including the mobiles, once they were through with their dastardly act," the source added.
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The victim is also aware that an arrest has been made in connection with the case. "The family will find solace only after the severest of action has been taken, like life imprisonment, to deter such perpetrators from committing such heinous crime," the source said.
The victim's mother told the relative that her employers and colleagues had been very supportive, offering comfort and emotional support. "She also thanked the media and the state for offering support. She also said the media should continue the fight for women's dignity and right to live normal lives," the source added. "The mother also thanked CM Prithviraj Chavan and home minister R R Patil for the swift police action and arrest of one of the culprits," said the source.
Times View
There was a time when Mumbai could justifiably take pride in being safe for women. It's still safer than Delhi, but that's cold consolation. The rate at which sex crimes against women are rising is unacceptable.
As our population expands and the ranks of the unemployed swell, as more and more people feel marginalized and disenfranchised, and as city life grows brutal, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the safety of every citizen.
But that is no excuse for the precipitous slide we have witnessed in Mumbai over the past few years. This city has been a mute spectator to the collapse of governance and the decay of our once sterling institutions. Our police force has lost the respect and trust of the people—and for that, our politicians are primarily to blame. Truth is, our netas don't care about this city—for them, it is just a place to make money. Through a combination of petty politics, corruption and lack of vision, they have weakened what was once a respected arm of administration. Is it any surprise that Maharashtra has refused to accept the Supreme Court's directive on police reforms, calling it unconstitutional?
There are lakhs of young women who go out everyday in Mumbai to make a living, just like the 22-year-old was doing. They need to know that the government will do everything in its power to ensure their safety.
Beyond that, we as a society need to ask ourselves: Is this the future we want for our children? If not, we must do whatever it takes to make the city safer for them.
The 22-year-old photojournalist said she wanted life imprisonment for all the perpetrators. "They have ruined my life and caused immense humiliation and physical pain," she is learned to have told her family. Barely 12 hours after the horrendous crime, she was displaying "tremendous courage", said a source close to the family. She was alert and closely monitoring each development as it unfolded on television in her hospital room.
The source told TOI she had started coming to terms with the assault. "She is mentally tough and determined to finish her project as it goes on display in the near future," said the source, suggesting that she would go back to the assignment she was working on for the national magazine. She has been working with the company as an intern for three-and-a-half months.
According to the source, after spending a very restless night, the victim had her first cup of tea only on Friday evening. "She was on drips the whole night and on Friday morning," said the relative adding that the news bulletins on TV only made her stronger. "She spent parts of the evening watching the news, which failed to ruffle her," the source said.
The relative told TOI that her mother was initially unaware of the rape. "The victim herself called her up from the hospital and told her that she had met with a minor accident. The victim assured her mother that it was nothing to worry about as she did not want her mother to go through any trauma," the relative said.
The victim's mother suffered a shock on landing at the hospital and hearing about the news. "She was shattered and is still picking up the pieces. She continues to be in a state of shock and can't come to grips with the fact that such a heinous crime could be committed in a city like Mumbai," the relative said.
The victim also showed much courage in narrating how the perpetrators had tied her colleague's hands to his back and pinned him to the ground before punching and kicking him. "The culprits first grabbed their mobiles, took their bags and ran a quick inspection. Though they found a camera in her bag apart from the one the male colleague was using, they returned their belongings, including the mobiles, once they were through with their dastardly act," the source added.
The victim is also aware that an arrest has been made in connection with the case. "The family will find solace only after the severest of action has been taken, like life imprisonment, to deter such perpetrators from committing such heinous crime," the source said.
The victim's mother told the relative that her employers and colleagues had been very supportive, offering comfort and emotional support. "She also thanked the media and the state for offering support. She also said the media should continue the fight for women's dignity and right to live normal lives," the source added. "The mother also thanked CM Prithviraj Chavan and home minister R R Patil for the swift police action and arrest of one of the culprits," said the source.
Times View
There was a time when Mumbai could justifiably take pride in being safe for women. It's still safer than Delhi, but that's cold consolation. The rate at which sex crimes against women are rising is unacceptable.
As our population expands and the ranks of the unemployed swell, as more and more people feel marginalized and disenfranchised, and as city life grows brutal, it is becoming increasingly difficult to ensure the safety of every citizen.
But that is no excuse for the precipitous slide we have witnessed in Mumbai over the past few years. This city has been a mute spectator to the collapse of governance and the decay of our once sterling institutions. Our police force has lost the respect and trust of the people—and for that, our politicians are primarily to blame. Truth is, our netas don't care about this city—for them, it is just a place to make money. Through a combination of petty politics, corruption and lack of vision, they have weakened what was once a respected arm of administration. Is it any surprise that Maharashtra has refused to accept the Supreme Court's directive on police reforms, calling it unconstitutional?
There are lakhs of young women who go out everyday in Mumbai to make a living, just like the 22-year-old was doing. They need to know that the government will do everything in its power to ensure their safety.
Beyond that, we as a society need to ask ourselves: Is this the future we want for our children? If not, we must do whatever it takes to make the city safer for them.