Telephone operator identifies minor rapist during ID parade

The 19-year-old telephone operator from Mulund on Thursday identified the minor accused in the gang rape that had taken place on the Shakti Mills premises on July 31. The identification parade was held at the juvenile remand home in Dongri. Crime branch sources said the 19-year-old’s husband, too, identified the accused as one of the five who raped her.

Joint commissioner of police, crime, Himanshu Roy said, “The Test Identification Parade (TIP) was on conducted at the juvenile remand home in Dongri where the minor accused is lodged.”

An official said, “The process was conducted under the supervision of a magistrate.”

Among the five accused in the case, the minor was arrested in September, while the other three -- Vijay Jadhav, Kasim Sheikh alias Bengali and Salim Ansari -- are already in custody for their alleged involvement in the August 22 gang rape of a photojournalist. The fifth, Mohammad Ashfaq Sheikh, is still at large.

The victim and her boyfriend had visited Shakti Mills on July 31 while going towards Mahalaxmi railway station. The five youth accosted them, assaulted the boyfriend and allegedly gang-raped the teenager. Later, the victim and her boyfriend fled to Chhattisgarh and got married in a temple.