After the heinous Sakinaka rape case, questions are being raised on the misgovernance of the Shiv Sena led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra. People are enraged by the state’s lawlessness, which has emboldened criminals to perpetrate such heinous atrocities without fear of being caught by the authorities.
However, the Sakinaka rape case is only one of the many such crimes that have been committed in the state of Maharashtra in recent few days. In fact, recently, there has been a spate of gruesome and horrific rape cases in the state and in most cases, the perpetrators are roaming scot-free.
Below is a list of at least nine such cases that have been reported in the last few days in Maharashtra.
Sakinaka rape case
A 30-year-old victim was brutally raped and brutalised in Mumbai’s Sakinaka area in Andheri East, Mumbai, late on Thursday night (September 9). The police have said that the arrested accused, Mohan Chauhan, had raped the deceased victim and beaten her up with a rod. He had inserted the rod in her private parts, leaving her critically injured. The police had found lying unconscious inside a stationary tempo at around 2:30 to 3:00 am at Khairani Road in the Sakinaka area, Mumbai. She had been bleeding profusely.
After battling for life for almost 33 hours, the victim succumbed to her injuries today.
Minor girl who was raped in Amravati, Maharashtra commits suicide
People were still trying to come to grips with the cruelty perpetrated on the Sakanaki victim when reports of a similar crime came to the fore from the Amravati district in Maharashtra. According to reports, a minor who was allegedly raped committed suicide in Daryapur of Maharashtra’s Amravati.
According to local media, the accused had forced the 17-years-old victim to engage in sexual intercourse with him. When the girl learnt that she had become pregnant, she ended her life by hanging herself.
“We received a complaint that a man repeatedly raped her. She became pregnant and later hanged herself to death”, said the Police Sub-Inspector of the Yevda police station, Dilip Patil.
6-year-old kidnapped from Pune footpath and raped mercilessly
In a similar case, a 6-year-old minor was sleeping next to her parents on a footpath adjacent to the bus stand near Pune railway station, when she was allegedly abducted and raped by an auto-rickshaw driver. The incident was reported on September 10. After getting information from another auto-rickshaw driver who saw the suspect take the girl away in his rickshaw, the police rescued her.
16-year-old mentally challenged girl raped in Vasai, Maharashtra
In another horrific case of sexual abuse, a 16-year-old mentally challenged girl was raped in Vasai. The accused took her forcefully on his motorcycle to an unknown place, where she was sexually assaulted. The incident occurred on September 7 but came to the fore two days later after her kin lodged a complaint at the police station.
Minor girl gang-raped in Pune
A 14-year-old girl was abducted from the Pune railways station area and raped by at least 14 men multiple times in the city of Maharashtra. According to reports, the minor had left home on August 31 at 10.30 pm to meet a friend at the railway station. But her friend did not turn up. An auto driver, who spotted her crying at the railway station, offered her help. On the pretext of dropping her home, he took her to a lodge where he raped her.
Later, he called his friends, who took turns to rape the girl at various places before they left her on board the Pune-Jammu Tawi Jhelum express train at around 5.30 pm on September 2.
While there were 14 people involved in the crime, only eight persons, including six autorickshaw drivers and two employees of the Railways, had been arrested in connection with the crime.
The arrested included Meerawali Shaikh, Mahboob alias Gaus Shaikh, Asif Pathan, Shahjur alias Siraj Chhaparband, Sameer Shaikh, Firoz alias Shahrukh Shaikh. Akbar Amar Shaikh, Noib Naim Khan, Asif Feroz Pathan, Rafik Murtaja Shaikh, Mashak Abdulmajid Kanyal, Azharuddin Islamuddin Ansari, Prashan Samuel Gaikwad, and Rajkumar Ramangina Prasad.
Minor orphan raped in Palghar district in Maharashtra
It’s appalling how Maharashtra has lately become the epicentre of crime against women. In yet another case, police had arrested three men for allegedly gang-raping a 17-year-old orphan girl at Vasai in Maharashtra’s Palghar district on August 28. Police had registered an offence against the trio under IPC sections 363 (kidnapping), 376 (rape), 376 (D) (gang-rape) of the IPC and also section 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO).
Woman gang-raped in Pune
On August 27, Pune City Police had arrested four persons for allegedly raping a 25-year-old woman in Janta Vasahat.
The incident occurred when the woman went to the Swargate area, where she was taken to a room in Janta Vasahat by one of the accused. He then called three of his friends, who also took turns and raped her. Residents in the area heard the woman’s calls for help and called the cops.
Teenage girl mercilessly raped by 6 men twice in a span of few hours in Nagpur
In yet another shocker, a teenage girl was allegedly raped by six men, including four autorickshaw drivers, in two separate incidents within hours of each other here in Maharashtra. It was reported on August 1, how the teenager was sexually assaulted by four men on the night of July 29 in a room in the Timki area and later by two men in their autorickshaw near Mayo Hospital square. The main accused was identified as one Shahnawaz alias Sana Mohd Rashid (25).
According to the authorities, the girl had asked Shahnawaz for financial and housing assistance. Shahnawaz drove her in his autorickshaw to an illegal liquor shop under the guise of providing her with shelter, where he consumed alcohol and forced the girl to drink as well. He then brought her to a rented room in the Timki area, where she was allegedly raped by him, his friend Mohd Taushif Mohd Yusuf (26) and the two leaders who worked at the Nagpur train station.
Later, Shahnawaz drove the girl to Mayo hospital square in his three-wheeler and left her there. After the accused left the area, two other autorickshaw drivers approached the girl and forcibly took her in their three-wheeler, where they also raped her.
Teacher raped by a man claiming to be a retired assistant police commissioner
According to local media, a teacher was allegedly raped by a man claiming to be a retired assistant police commissioner in Pimpri. The accused sexually assaulted the teacher on the pretext of providing her financial assistance. The accused had called the teacher to his house to help him with money as she was going through some financial woes. When the teacher reached his house, he first made her sign on two blank cheques. He offered her a soft drink and then started misbehaving with her.
When the victim tried to resist, the accused used his position to intimidate her.
He took her nude pictures and threatened to defame the victim by making them public. He threatened the victim with dire consequences if she did not give in to his demands. The accused then took the victim on his two-wheeler and assaulted her sexually.
