The Mumbai Police Crime Branch arrested a barber for allegedly raping a mentally challenged woman. After the 23-year-old victim made gestures to inform that the accused was a barber, the Crime Branch checked out all saloons in the area where she resided and arrested the accused.
According to police, the incident took place in August last year, but it came to light in the first week of January, when she complained of stomach pain. The woman was initially taken to a private hospital, where the doctors revealed that she was 16-weeks pregnant. She was then admitted to JJ hospital, where the authorities informed police, following which a case under section 376 (2) (L) (rape) was registered on January 9.
An officer from the Crime Branch said, “Initially, we found it difficult to communicate with her as she couldn’t understand what she was saying.” She later picked up her hair and made a gesture of cutting them that helped police realise that she was referring to a barber.
“We realised that it was a barber. So, we started gathering pictures of barbers working in salons. When we showed those pictures to the victim, she couldn’t recognise. Later, we started inquiring with the barber to whom the family members of the victim went. We got a tip-off about a barber who had recently left his job at a salon,” said an investigator.
Crime Branch officials took the suspect in custody and during the course of the interrogation, he confessed to the crime.
The accused said he saw the woman for the first time in August, when she had come to the market with her mother.
“He realised that she wouldn’t understand anything and days later when he spotted her alone and raped her. He also raped her on the mezzanine floor of his saloon after the working hours,” said an officer.
The Crime Branch arrested the accused on Thursday and handed him over to police for further investigation.
An officer said, “We shall be filing an application in court, allowing her to abort the child. She is 23 years old but because of her mental illness, she behaves like a child.”
