Mumbai: A 22-year-old photojournalist is in hospital with multiple injuries after being gang-raped by five people on Thursday evening at the dilapidated Shakti Mills compound in Lower Parel, south Mumbai.
Her condition is now described by doctors as stable, though she has both external and internal injuries. A battery of doctors is attending to her at the Jaslok hospital.
The young woman, who works with a magazine, was with a male friend when she was assaulted at about 8 pm yesterday.
In details chillingly similar to the December gang-rape in Delhi, the woman and her friend have described in their statements to the police how two men first harassed her and then beat up and tied her friend when he objected.
The men then reportedly dragged her into a run-down, abandoned building, called in three other men and gang-raped the young woman.
Twenty people have been detained and the police have released sketches of five suspects based on the statements. The woman has reportedly said that two of her attackers called each other Rupesh and Sajid. Four of the men are believed to be in their early 20s.
Her friend was at the Shakti Mills compound this morning, giving details of the crime to policemen.
The police are investigating whether the attackers fled in a train after raping the girl. The Shakti Mills compound is very close to the Mahalakshmi station on the western line.
Maharashtra Home Minister RR Patil visited the young woman in hospital last night. He promised that those responsible would be arrested soon.
Last December, a 23-year-old medical student was brutally gang-raped by six men in a moving bus in Delhi. The horrific assault had provoked nation-wide protests and demands for better protection for women and more stringent laws against rape.
Verdict is expected on the alleged role of one of the accused in the Delhi case, a minor, at the end of this month. Four other accused are in Tihar jail and are being tried by a fast-track court. The sixth accused has died.
Mumbaikars say they are stunned that such a heinous crime could happen in the middle of a city that they pride as safe for women.
Milind Deora, Lok Sabha MP from south Mumbai, said, "Mumbai Police must get to the bottom of yesterday's alleged rape and punish the guilty ASAP. Mumbai takes pride in being a safe city for women." NDTV
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