Autorickshaw driver held for rape in Maharashtra

Thane: A 26-year-old autorickshaw driver has been arrested from a village near Panvel in Raigad district of Maharashtra for allegedly raping an 18-year-old woman passenger on December 27, police said on Tuesday.

The victim hailed from Jashpur in Chhattisgarh who was on tour of Mumbai and neighbouring areas, as per preliminary investigation.

The woman reached Bandra railway station in Mumbai from Delhi on December 22, Panvel police station senior inspector Ajay Landge told reporters.

However, a ticket checker at Bandra railway station handed her over to Child Helpline after finding her alone. The woman was then shifted to a shelter before she was allowed to go, he said.

On December 26,



the woman travelled to Panvel railway station. She was befriended by a man and stayed with him for a day, the police officer said.

"On December 27, the woman hired an autorickshaw at Panvel to go to Gandhi Garden locality. However, the autorickshaw driver drove her to an isolated place near the Wadghar river bank and dragged her to bushes. He raped her after threatening to smash her head with a stone," Landge said quoting the FIR.

The accused was arrested from Poyanje village near Panvel, he said.

A case has been registered under sections 376 (Punishment for rape) and 506- 2 (Punishment for criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), he added.