Brutalized Sakinaka rape victim dies in Mumbai hospital; Incident evokes outrage

The 30-year-old woman, who was raped and brutalized with rod, succumbed to her injuries following excessive bleeding at a civic hospital a short while ago, an official said.

"It's a tragic end... She had suffered very severe internal injuries and has passed away," Shiv Sena MLC Manisha Kayande told IANS. She said the victim has two minor daughters and appealed to Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray to consider compensation for them.

The incident, which was discovered early on Friday morning, sparked outrage all over the state with the National Commission for Women taking note on Saturday

A police official said that the attempt to murder charges shall now be enhanced to murder on the sole accused arrested, Mohan Chavan, and further investigations are on.

According to police, the woman was raped and then beaten with a rod, the rapist allegedly shoved a rod in her private parts, dumped her body on the desolate road before decamping from there.

The incident took place on the intervening night of Thursday-Friday on Khairani Road of the Sakinaka area of north-west Mumbai, and police recovered her in a pool of blood around 3 a.m. on Friday.

Sakinaka Police Station Senior Police Inspector Balwant Deshmukh said that the accused, identified as a local, Mohan Chavan, 45, was arrested hours after the dastardly crime and is being interrogated.

The police had rushed the victim in a critical condition to the BMC's Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar, where she succumbed to her injuries on Saturday noon. 

Police teams were unable to record her statement which could have thrown light on the entire episode, and they are now scouring the CCTV footage of the vicinity and questioning potential witnesses in the area.

The incident was strongly condemned by Deputy Chairperson of Maharashtra Legislative Council Neelam Gorhe, Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande, many women activists and commoners, with many demanding the immediate passing of the Shakti Act which proposes death penalty for rape.

Top police officials are supervising the investigations and the possible involvement of others into the crime that shook the people on the eve of the state's biggest festival Ganeshotsav which started on Friday.