The Sion police have arrested a 31-year-old Dharavi resident for allegedly raping a 37-year-old woman on the premises of Sion Hospital last week.
According to the police, the offence occurred on May 10 in the Out Patient Department (OPD) building. The police said the woman was raped in a secluded corner of the building despite the premises being guarded by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s security guards and personnel from the Maharashtra State Security Corporation.
“The victim was with her sister, who was admitted to the hospital for treatment on May 10. The accused, who was later identified as Deepak Kunchikurve (31), struck up a conversation with her, pretending to be a ward boy,” a police officer said. According to the officer, Mr. Kunchikurve said he could help her get treatment for her sister at subsidised rates and asked her to go with him to fill the requisite forms.
“The accused led her to a secluded corner of the fifth floor of the OPD building. He forced himself on her, and then fled the scene. The woman alerted some security guards, who informed us,” the officer said.
CCTV footage scanned
The police, after conducting medical tests on the victim and recording her statement, registered a case of rape under the Indian Penal Code against unidentified persons.
“We scanned CCTV footage of the hospital and spotted the accused, after which we tracked his movements in and out of the hospital. The footage from cameras around the hospital indicated that he had come from Dharavi. We sent teams to Dharavi with his photographs from the footage, and after several hours of ground work with local informants, picked him up from his residence in the Dharavi Transit Camp,” the officer said.
He was placed under arrest on May 11 and produced in court, where he was remanded in judicial custody, officials said.
Dr. Jayashree Mondkar, the dean of Sion Hospital, said security guards have been asked to be more alert. “The accused is not an employee of the hospital. He did not have any purpose of being in the hospital either,” Dr. Mondkar said. She said the security guards have been asked to check visitor passes more diligently.