Mumbai, Dec 20 (IANS): The Trombay Police have arrested a man for the rape-cum-assault on a 64-year-old widow and then leaving her to die near the Thane Creek in Maharashtra, an official said here on Wednesday.
The accused, who was arrested late last night, has been identified as Umesh Gulabrao Dhok, 38, a resident of Shantinagar in Mankhurd suburb of north-east Mumbai, said Trombay Police Station Senior Police Inspector Ravindra Ranshevre.
The accused has confessed to his crime and has been slapped with various charges under the IPC and POCSO, and a special team has been formed for further investigations, said Ranshevre.
According to the preliminary probe, the woman had gone to the local Khandoba Temple in Nehru Nagar on Monday evening and on return, the accused lured her to his room in Shantinagar on the pretext of dropping her home.
In his home, he brutally raped the woman repeatedly during the Monday-Tuesday night, assaulted her multiple times with a stick, causing grievous injuries on the face, head, chest, limbs and private parts.
After the senior woman lost consciousness, he dumped her in a naked state near his home in the Thane Creek's salt-pan area, around 5 a.m., said the police.
The victim's daughter said that soon afterwards, a local woman saw her mother lying there without any clothes and brought a gown for her, then informed the Trombay Police which rushed a team there.
The police managed to retrieve the woman's phone and managed to contact her only daughter, while admitting the victim to the BMC's Rajawadi Hospital in Ghatkopar.
The daughter claimed that at least three persons were involved in the crime, though the police have not made any such reference in the case.
Ranshevre is guiding a team of Vijay Garud, Kiran Tambade, Sharad Nanekar, Pallavi Tayade, and others from various squads to probe the case further and track any others who may be involved in the heinous incident.
The widow lives with her daughter and her grand-daughter, and the trio make a living selling fish and brooms in the local markets.