Mumbai: An FIR has been registered against a police inspector in Mumbai for ‘inaction’ in the case of alleged rape of a 19-year-old woman who later died at a hospital, police said Sunday.
The woman, who belonged to a Scheduled Caste as per her lawyer, was allegedly raped by four of her friends here in the first week of July. She was later admitted to a state-run hospital in Maharashtra’s Aurangabad city where she died August 28.
Based on the complaint by lawyer Nitin Satpute, representing the woman’s family, an FIR was lodged against Chunabhatti police station’s inspector Deepak Surve on Saturday, according to police.
In the complaint, Satpute alleged ‘inaction’ by the police in handling the case. Satpute claimed the police also failed to register offences against the accused under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, as the victim belonged to a Scheduled Caste.
“Prima facie, there is a serious flaw on part of the police, who, in spite of the efforts made by the victim’s family to seek action against the gangrape culprits, didn’t bother to act against the accused,” Satpute alleged.
“The First Information Report (FIR) has been registered against police inspector Deepak Surve under the Scheduled Castes/Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act for humiliating the victim,” added Satpute.
The alleged rape came to light only when the woman complained of pain in her private parts July 24 and was admitted to a private hospital in Aurangabad, located around 325 km from here.
The doctors suspected that she had been raped and informed the police. She was then shifted to the government-run hospital.
As per the complaint July 7 filed at Begumpura police station in Aurangabad, the woman came to Mumbai. Four of her friends decided to celebrate her birthday. After cutting the cake, the four allegedly raped her, police said. The case was subsequently transferred to Chunabhatti police station here.
Senior NCP leader Supriya Sule on Friday led the party’s protest march here, demanding an SIT probe into the woman’s death.
State Legislative Council’s Deputy Chairperson Neelam Gorhe said she has instructed the Mumbai Police to trace the accused and ensure the chargesheet in the matter is filed properly.
PTI