Woman gangraped and murdered in Thane

The temple priest and two sevaks arrested by the Thane police. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

The Shil-Daighar police in Thane have arrested three men for allegedly raping and murdering a 30-year-old woman. The woman had left her house after a quarrel with her husband and took refuge in the temple. The police believe that woman may have visited the temple in the past however, on that fateful day she was alone.

The three accused including a priest of the temple with an intention to take advantage of her vulnerability laced her tea with marijuana. As the woman became intoxicated and not in a state to resist them, the three men allegedly raped her. When the effects of the drug wore off in the morning, she questioned them about the sexual assault that she was aware of but couldn't resist. To prevent the woman from approaching the police, the men strangled her and dumped her body in the temple's vicinity which happens to be a hilly area.

According to the police the woman has been identified as a resident of Belapur. The police during investigation found that the woman had an argument with her husband that further resulted in a quarrel among them. "On July 6, after a quarrel, she left home and didn't return. Her husband inquired with his in-laws at Koparkhairane, but she didn't go there. Hence the parents filed a missing case at the NRI police station in Navi Mumbai," said a police officer.

Subash Burse, deputy commissioner of police, zone 1 said, "On July 9, a person informed the police about a woman's body in the hilly area near the temple. Our team from the Shil Daighar police reached the spot and found the woman's body. After an investigation we learnt her identity and found that she left home after a quarrel with her husband and had come to the temple."

A case has been registered at Shil Daighar police station and investigation was started by forming different teams. "Scrutiny of the CCTV footage revealed that the woman left home and had breakfast at a hotel in Mahape. Later she was seen entering the temple of Ghol Ganpati Mandir near Shil Gaon. The temple staircase CCTV footage showed her entering the temple. But she was not seen returning from the temple," said a police officer. This brought those people at the temple under suspicion of the police, the officer said.

During investigation the police found that the original priest at the temple was away on a visit to Uttar Pradesh. In his absence, he had arranged for a priest and two other sevaks to take care of the temple. "So these suspects, seeing the woman alone, decided to take advantage of her. Firstly, they served her tea laced with bhang and raped her. In the morning when she gained consciousness she raised alarm about sexual assault and tried to flee. The accused then caught her and assaulted her. They strangled her to death, banged her head on a stone and threw the body from the hills," said a police officer.

Burse said that all the three accused have been arrested and were produced in the court. "They are in police custody till July 16. Our teams are conducting investigations to gather more evidence and make it an airtight case," added Burse. The police said the suspects arrested have been identified as Shamsundar Sharma, 62, from Rajasthan, Santosh Kumar Mishra, 45 and Rajkumar Pandey, 52 from Uttar Pradesh.

Burse made an appeal to the citizens to stay in connect with the family in case of disagreement with the family members. "One can confide in senior relatives rather than going alone to some isolated place. For any help they can always contact the police for assistance," he said.

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Age of the victim