The person accused of the rape and murder of a woman in Mumbai’s Saki Naka area has confessed to his crime, city Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale said on Monday, News18 reported.
At a press conference, Nagrale said that the police have recovered the weapon used to assault the woman. He said that in his confession, the accused, Mohan Chauhan claimed that he knew the woman and that she had demanded certain things from him. An argument broke out between the two on the matter, after which he raped and assaulted her, Chauhan has said, according to Nagrale.
The woman, who was in her 30s, died on Saturday after being hospitalised in a critical condition. She was found injured and bleeding inside a tempo van in Saki Naka on Friday night. The police said that the accused had inserted an unknown object into her genitalia.
On Monday, Nagrale said that the police will complete their investigation within 15 days and a chargesheet will be filed in a month. Lawyer Raja Thackeray has been appointed the special public prosecutor in the case, Nagrale said.
“We have collected strong evidence, including digital files, such as CCTV [camera] footage,” the police commissioner added.
Nagrale also defended his earlier statement on police’s presence at crime scenes. A day after the rape, he had courted controversy by saying that that it was not possible for police officers to be present at every crime location.
“Some people have misrepresented my comment,” Nagrale said at the press conference, ANI reported. “I had said that police cannot be present at every spot. Police can reach every spot...And we have very well reached the spot within 10 minutes [of the Saki Naka incident]. But it is impossible for policemen to be present at every spot. So I am maintaining my statement, it is a factual statement.”
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray announced aid of Rs 20 lakh to the family of the woman, News18 reported. The decision was taken at a meeting attended by Thackeray, Nagrale, Maharashtra Director General of Police Sanjay Pandey and other government officials on Monday afternoon.
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