Mumbai Police personnel at the Shakti Mills compound
It was about 6 pm on Thursday when the 22-year-old photojournalist with an English magazine in Mumbai entered the dilapidated and isolated Shakti Mills compound through a rear entrance.
She wanted to click pictures for an assignment and needed to be there at that time for conducive lighting. Though the mill compound has been abandoned for many years, it is in Lower Parel, the middle of Mumbai, a city that prides itself on being safe for women. The young woman was also accompanied by a male colleague. (
Sequence of events)
Inside the mill compound, two men accosted them and said they needed permission from a "supervisor" who was inside one of the ramshackle buildings. When these two men began to pass lewd remarks, the woman and her colleague objected.
The two men, suspected to be in their early 20s, then attacked the woman, after tying her friend with a belt to ensure he could not call for help.
They also called three other men and all five of them took turns raping the 22-year-old. The young woman was unconscious when they fled the spot from the side that the photojournalist and her colleague had entered from.
When the young woman regained consciousness around 8 pm, she untied her friend and they went to Jaslok Hospital on Peddar Road, around four kilometres away, where doctors called in the police when they found out that she had been raped. (
India outraged. Comment)
A first information report was registered post midnight against unknown people. The statements of the girl and her friend were recorded this morning, and they recounted the sequence of events and details of the horrific assault.
Sketches of the accused were released this morning. One of them was arrested in the wee hours and the rest four have been identified, the police said. (
How the woman's statement helped the police)