Mumbai: As a grisly reminiscent of the December 16 gang-rape of a medical student which stunned and united the entire globe, the horrific assault on a 22-year-old Mumbai-based photojournalist on Thursday evening has provoked nation-wide protests in India.
The young woman, working with a Mumbai-based news magazine, had on Thursday evening gone to the isolated Shakti Mill compound in Lower Parel, South Mumbai, with her male colleague to take photographs, but was accosted initially by two men, who were later joined by three others. They beat up and tied her colleague with a belt, before taking turns to rape her. The woman, who has suffered both internal and external injuries, is admitted to the Jaslok Hospital.
“She underwent a minor medical procedure on Friday morning and is now out of danger. She is stable and doing well. She looks a bit down and depressed,” Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Jaslok Hospital Dr Tarang Giachandani told Gulf News.
Around 45 people have so far been questioned. According to police, the girl named two of the suspects who were calling each other as Rupesh and Sajid at the time of the crime. The girl’s male colleague was on Friday taken to the scene of the crime for further investigations.
In her statement, the girl said that while they were taking photographs, the duo was approached by two men who asked her if she had the necessary permission to shoot in that area. They subsequently took her to meet with the people who they claimed were authorities of the place. All of a sudden, they started making lewd remarks. When her friend intervened, two of them assaulted him. Three others then took the woman inside the dilapidated structure and raped her.
According to police, one of the two accused even told the photojournalist that the male member accompanying her was involved in a murder that had taken place in the mill compound a few years back. The two men took the victim and her friend to different places around the compound and called three more men over the phone.
The photo-journalist’s detailed statement to the police and that of a male colleague who was with her, helped identify the accused within hours.
The police have arrested one man, who has allegedly confessed and helped identify his four others accomplices. All the accused are between 20-22 years of age. The police suspect that some of the accused could be drug addicts but the man arrested was not under the influence of alcohol or any other substance at the time of arrest.
“The arrested accused has confessed to his role in the crime and helped the police identify the other four men, providing the police with names and whereabouts. What has really helped the police the most is the detailed statements that the young woman and her male colleague gave to the police. The accused had told the girl and her colleague that they were on railway property where photography was not allowed. The police prepared sketches of the accused which proved to be around 85 per cent correct. We worked on the presumption that the accused were most likely locals who lived in the vicinity of the abandoned Shakti Mill compound,” Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh told Gulf News.
“The matter came to our notice at about 8.30 pm on Thursday evening and by 8.45 pm, we had started combing the area. Immediately, 20 police teams were formed, who were all given different tasks. The sketches were drawn at night and a massive manhunt was launched. Within hours, the first arrest had been made. Two of the accused have burglary cases registered against them,” Singh added.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil visited the hospital and reassured the victim that the culprits will be arrested soon.
“This case will be investigated very seriously and the accused will be caught very soon. Mumbai Police Commissioner Satyapal Singh has been personally directed by me to ensure that the culprits are arrested at the soonest,” Patil told the newspersons.
Meanwhile, journalists, activists and citizens in general are protesting against the disgusting incident in different parts of the country. In Parliament, Opposition parties attacked the Congress party-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government over rise in crimes against women. Incidentally, Congress rules both in Maharashtra and at the Centre.
Social activist Radhika Sen is sad that Mumbai is now going the North India way.
“As a person who lived in Mumbai for about 10 years, I always found the place safe for women even late into the night. It is a tragedy that such incidents are being reported from this metropolis. As a society, we are becoming sick. Fear of God seems to be diminishing. Now only fear of strict administration of law can help,” Radhika told Gulf News.
Journalist Pravin Kumar Sahay laments the general degradation of the society.
“It is a shameful moment for the entire country. We are in dire need to find a new word to call ourselves. Definitely, the word ‘human’ does not describe us any more.The violence against women keeps continuing in spite of tremendous outrage displayed by the general public in the recent times,” Sahay says.
“The father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi had once said that when the moment comes when a girl can walk alone anywhere in the middle of the night without the fear of any harm, we would achieve true freedom. Yesterday, we witnessed that a journalist was gang-raped at 6 pm in the centre of the bustling metropolis, is this the freedom that Gandhiji was looking for,” Sahay grieves.
