Tempo driver arrested for raping 20-year-old woman | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: Sakinaka police on Tuesday arrested a 24-year-old tempo driver for allegedly raping a 20-year-old woman in his tempo. When the victim tried to resist, he physically assaulted her.

The accused Asad Shaikh, a resident of Jarimari, Sakinaka, contacted the victim, a resident of Ghatkopar, through social media a few months ago.

A month ago, they decided to meet near a mall in Kamani. When they met, Shaikh took her phone, refused to return it and insisted that she get in his car. He then drove the vehicle towards Jarimari, where he stopped at a secluded place and sexually assaulted the woman. He physically assaulted the woman and hit her head against iron rods when she resisted, a police official said.

When the victim started bleeding, he took her to Bhabha Hospital. After receiving treatment, the woman managed to escape without taking her phone. The victim was scared and hence did not inform her parents about the incident.

Later, the accused appeared near her and threatened to kill her if she spoke to anyone about the incident and forced her to continue the relationship with him.

On June 27, when the woman was out shopping in Ghatkopar, the accused approached her and promised to return the phone. Then he again made her sit at his pace. He took her somewhere near Virar and again had physical contact with her after threatening her.

When the woman returned home late that same day, her family filed a missing person report at the Ghatkopar police station.

On July 5, the victim narrated the incident to her mother and the family reported the case to Ghatkopar police station. Later, it was forwarded to Sakinaka for further investigation.

“We arrested the accused on July 9 after the case was handed over to us and are continuing to investigate the matter,” said Senior Inspector Gabaji Chimate of Sakinaka Police Station.

The accused was charged under Sections 115(2), 351(3), 64, 64(2)(d) and 74 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).