Thane police have arrested three men, including an elderly man, for allegedly raping a 30-year-old woman and pushing her to death from a hillock in Maharashtra's Thane district, where she went alone to visit a temple, an official said. .
The woman had visited the temple on July 6 and her body was found in the mound three days later, she said.
The accused trio have been identified as Santosh Mishra (45), Rajkumar Pandey (54), both from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, and Shyamsundar Sharma (62) from Kota in Rajasthan, a senior official of Shil-Daighar police station said. .
"On July 6, the victim left her house in Navi Mumbai in anger after an argument with family members, and reached the base of the mound in Shilphata area to visit a Ganesh temple located atop. Before After ascending, the woman visited a nearby restaurant, where she had something to eat. CCTV footage shows her heading towards the temple stairs, but does not show her descending from there," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) SE Burse.
When she went to the temple atop the mound, the trio of accused were present there, she said.
Meanwhile, her in-laws and her husband conducted a frantic search, but when they did not find her, they approached the police and filed a missing person report.
Later, during investigation, the police found the body of a woman in the mound, which upon verification was confirmed to be that of the victim, the official said.
The police then arrested the three accused, who initially gave contradictory statements. They later confessed to committing the crime, Burse added.
"It is suspected that they offered her something to drink laced with a drug before taking turns to sexually assault her. They also locked her up and then pushed her to death on Monday. But all these things will become clear once in our investigation," she said. she said.
One of the accused was the substitute of a priest who had gone to Uttar Pradesh, she said, adding that the deceased was the mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old child.
"The accused confessed to having raped the woman. Her autopsy also confirms this," he said.
The accused appeared before a court, which took them into police custody.
The woman had visited the temple on July 6 and her body was found in the mound three days later, she said.
The accused trio have been identified as Santosh Mishra (45), Rajkumar Pandey (54), both from Pratapgarh in Uttar Pradesh, and Shyamsundar Sharma (62) from Kota in Rajasthan, a senior official of Shil-Daighar police station said. .
"On July 6, the victim left her house in Navi Mumbai in anger after an argument with family members, and reached the base of the mound in Shilphata area to visit a Ganesh temple located atop. Before After ascending, the woman visited a nearby restaurant, where she had something to eat. CCTV footage shows her heading towards the temple stairs, but does not show her descending from there," said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) SE Burse.
When she went to the temple atop the mound, the trio of accused were present there, she said.
Meanwhile, her in-laws and her husband conducted a frantic search, but when they did not find her, they approached the police and filed a missing person report.
Later, during investigation, the police found the body of a woman in the mound, which upon verification was confirmed to be that of the victim, the official said.
The police then arrested the three accused, who initially gave contradictory statements. They later confessed to committing the crime, Burse added.
"It is suspected that they offered her something to drink laced with a drug before taking turns to sexually assault her. They also locked her up and then pushed her to death on Monday. But all these things will become clear once in our investigation," she said. she said.
One of the accused was the substitute of a priest who had gone to Uttar Pradesh, she said, adding that the deceased was the mother of a two-and-a-half-year-old child.
"The accused confessed to having raped the woman. Her autopsy also confirms this," he said.
The accused appeared before a court, which took them into police custody.