Mumbai woman, raped and assaulted with iron rod, dies in hospital; Uddhav Thackeray promises fast-track trial

A 34-year-old woman, who was raped and tortured with an iron rod , died this morning at a Mumbai hospital. According to reports, she succumbed after a 33-hour-long battle in the hospital. Further details are awaited. In the incident that bore a grim reminder of the 2012 Delhi gangrape case, the woman was raped and brutally assaulted inside a stationary tempo in suburban Sakinaka, the police had said on Friday. Mohan Chouhan (45), the accused, was arrested within a few hours of the incident, said an official. The police control room had received a call in the early hours of Friday that a man was thrashing a woman on Khairani Road, he said. A police team rushed to the spot to find a woman lying in a pool of blood. She was taken to the civic-run Rajawadi hospital, the official said. As per the preliminary probe, she had been raped and assaulted with an iron rod in her private parts, he said, adding that the incident had taken place inside a tempo parked on the roadside. Bloodstains were found inside the vehicle. Acting on some leads, the accused was arrested under IPC sections 307 (attempt to murder) and 376 (rape) and further probe was on, he added. Blot on humanity, says Thackeray Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray termed the rape and murder of a woman in Mumbai’s Sakinaka as a “blot on humanity”, and promised a fast-track trial in the case. He asserted that the perpetrator would be punished severely. “The trial in the case will be done on a fast track and the victim, who succumbed to injuries today, will get justice,” Thackeray said in a statement. The chief minister said he has discussed the case with state home minister Dilip Walse Patil and Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale. “I have directed the authorities to expedite the investigation into the case,” he said. BJP seeks capital punishment  Meanwhile, the Opposition BJP in Maharashtra sought capital punishment for the accused involved in rape and assault case, and also hit out at the Shiv Sena-led Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government over the issue of women’s safety. Leader of Opposition in the state Legislative Assembly, Devendra Fadnavis, said, “The Sakinaka woman rape case should be tried in a fast-track court so that the accused gets punishment at the earliest. Maharashtra Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) should meet the Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court and request him to hold the trial in the case in a fast-track court.” “I know that awarding a sentence is in the hands of the judiciary. But I feel the culprit in the Sakinaka rape should be hanged to death,” he said. The Sakinaka incident was an unfortunate reminder of the Delhi rape case, he said, adding that attacks on women was a matter of concern. Fadnavis was referring to the 2012 case in which a young woman - later referred to as ‘Nirbhaya’ - was brutally gang-raped and assaulted inside a moving bus in Delhi. Asked about the proposed Shakti Act, he said, “Existing laws are sufficient to take tough actions against the culprits. It is the willpower of the state to take tough decisions and follow it up till the logical end.” Meanwhile, talking to reporters, Mumbai Mayor Kishori Pednekar, a Shiv Sena leader, said, “I cannot imagine why some men act so cruelly. I have been told that the police are gathering all the details of the incident and collecting evidence. It will take some time, but the truth will come out.” With inputs from PTI