May 29, (Mid-day): Survivor was initially fooled by two of the accused on the pretext of helping her board a Jammu train on Monday morning; they took her to the factory, forced her to drink alcohol and raped her; they later called two of their friends who repeated the heinous act

Taking advantage of her innocence, four men gang-raped a 14-year-old in the wee hours of Sunday on the pretext of offering her help to reach Jammu to meet her friend. The incident took place in a small factory at Mukundnagar, Dharavi.

While the case was initially registered at the MIDC police station, it was later transferred to the Kurla police because the teenager was initially picked up from Kurla station. Based on the primary investigation, Kurla police nabbed Dineshkumar Yadav (20), Salman Mehboob Khan (20) and Raju Rushipal Singh (20) on Wednesday from their residences in Dharavi, and have launched a manhunt for the fourth accused, Umesh Kavde (19), who is on the run.

Inspector S B Jagdale from Kurla police station said, “The survivor had an argument with her grandmother on Saturday after she returned home from a shopping expedition with her friends. Following their argument, the teenager left the house in anger. She then called her Facebook friend in Jammu, and told him that she had left the house forever. It was he who suggested her to come to Jammu and stay with him.”

Acting on her friend’s suggestion, the survivor went to Kurla station to catch a train for Jammu. However, she couldn’t figure out which train to board. It was here that Kavde first spotted the girl. He and Yadav, who is mute, approached her and offered to help her board the right train.

“On the pretext of helping her, the duo then took her to CST station. Here, they pretended to make inquires at the ticket window about a train to Jammu and lied to the girl that it had left minutes before they reached the station. The accused then told her that they would help her board the first train to Jammu in the morning. However, she would have to spend the night with them,” said Jagdale.

While the girl initially refused, Kavde managed to convince her to accompany them. They took her to the factory where Kavde works, and forced her to consume alcohol following which they took turns to rape the girl. Later, Kavde called their friends Khan and Singh who also exploited the teenager.

“The owner of the factory got a call that one of his employees had sneaked a girl inside the factory. The owner then called one of his associates, Jamir Shabbir, and asked him to verify the claims. While Shabbir was on his way to the factory, he bumped into the accused and the survivor. On seeing Shabbir, the quartet fled the spot. Upon inquiring, the teenager narrated her ordeal him,” Jagdale said.

He then took her grandmother’s number and informed the old woman about her granddaughter’s whereabouts. The grandmother and survivor then went to the MIDC police station and lodged an FIR against the accused. Later, the case was transferred to the Kurla police.

All the arrested accused were booked under Sections 376 (2) (g) (committing gang-rape) and 363 (punishment for kidnapping), among others, of the IPC and Protection of Children from Sexual offences (POCSO) Act, 2012. All three were produced in the court yesterday and were remanded in police custody till June 8.