Man and his friend rape estranged wife in Mumbai; one held, one on the run

The Bandra police on Thursday arrested a 32-year-old man for allegedly raping his 28-year-old estranged wife with his 34-year-old friend. The incident took place on March 12, when the accused called the woman to Pali Hill road on the pretext of collecting some documents.

“A paan shop owner claims to have seen the two arguing at the spot. The accused was accompanied by another man. According to the woman’s statement, she was dragged into a taxi and forcefully taken to Virar,” said a police officer. She was taken to a room where she was beaten and raped by the two men, the woman said in her statement. When the accused were asleep, she managed to escape the next morning.

She filed a first information report (FIR) with the Virar police six days after the incident took place. The FIR was eventually transferred to Bandra police station, as the crime took place at Pali Hill.

The police have recorded the statement of the paan shop owner, who was an eye witness to the woman being kidnapped. The couple have been separated for the past few years, said the police.

“We are trying to located the second accused in the case. The arrested accused filed an anticipatory bail plea in court, which has been rejected,” the officer said.

The two men have been under sections 376D (punishment for gangrape), 365(Punishment for kidnapping ), 342(punishment for wrongful confinement) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of Indian Penal Code. The accused will be produced in court on Friday to be taken into police custody.