Alert cops prevent ‘Nirbhaya-like incident’ in Thane; arrest auto-rickshaw driver, aide

According to police, the incident took place Friday around 10.45 pm when the woman was returning home after visiting Khidkaleshwar temple. She boarded an autorickshaw, which already had a passenger, from Khidkali bus stop, to go to Kolhegaon Naka.

As she was preparing to get off at Kolhegaon, autorickshaw driver Prabhakar Bhattu Patil, 22, and his friend Vaibhav Rajesh Tare, 19, who was the woman’s co-passenger, diverted the auto vehicle to a different route in the Maay City area, police said. “The two accused allegedly threatened the woman with a screw driver and forced her take off her clothes. The duo molested her while roaming around in the auto-rickshaw for almost 30 minutes,” said inspector Ram Chopade of Manpada police station.

While the accused co-passenger was trying to force himself on the woman, she resisted and put her hand out of the vehicle, gesturing for help. Two patrolling policemen Atul Bhoiye and Sudhir Hase spotted her hand and followed the auto-rickshaw, said Chopade.

When the accused saw the policemen following them, they tried to speed away and threw the woman out of the vehicle in a nude state. She sustained injuries on her waist, the officer added.

The two constables, however, managed to intercept and nab Patil and Tare. Tare attacked constable Bhoiye with the screw driver, inflicting injuries on him, however, he was overpowered, another officer said.

Patil is a Dombivali (East) resident while Tare is from Diva (East). The two accused already have three criminal cases of theft, robbery and assault against their names, police said.

The duo has been arrested under sections 366, 365, 354, 354 (a)(b), 332, 337, 506 (2), 323, and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.