MUMBAI: Powai police arrested Anil Shinde, 28, from Kalwa within four hours after an FIR was registered at 11 pm on Tuesday in connection with the alleged sexual assault of a 25-year-old airhostess at a Powai flat. Shinde allegedly posed as a transgender person and entered the building through gate number two after being stopped by a security guard at gate number one.
Police said Shinde approached the airhostess on the pretext of curing her husband’s illness and warding off the evil eye. He allegedly took her to a bedroom and sexually assaulted her before she raised an alarm. He fled after collecting Rs 200 from the airhostess and Rs 100 from an 85-year-old man who owned the flat as dakshina. Ironically, police said, Shinde earned only Rs 300 from the two residents but spent Rs 1,200 on an autorickshaw that he hired from Kalwa to travel to Powai and return home after the alleged offence.
Shinde first approached the building through gate number one around 12.15 pm but was stopped by the security guard. He then allegedly bypassed the security arrangements and entered through gate number two around 12.20 pm. “Warnings have been circulated asking people not to allow any stranger to enter the house. Luckily, in this case, the two women were not harmed or attacked. So far, no criminal history has been found against Shinde,” said a police officer from Powai police station.
After entering the building, Shinde knocked on the doors of several flats on an upper floor before the 85-year-old resident on the ground floor opened the door. Police said Shinde gained the senior citizen’s trust by chanting mantras and claiming that he could ward off the evil eye, which he said was causing illness. The elderly man then introduced Shinde to the airhostess, who has been staying as a paying guest in the flat for the past six months.
Shinde allegedly told her that he could help cure her husband, who is currently hospitalised with dengue after travelling to Mumbai from Varanasi, where he works, earlier this week. “He frequently visits his wife. Shinde took the airhostess to the bedroom and sexually assaulted her before she raised her voice after realising that something was wrong. The senior citizen was completely unaware of the incident. Before leaving, Shinde asked both of them for dakshina, and they gave him Rs 200 and Rs 100 respectively,” said a police officer.
After the airhostess approached Powai police and registered a complaint at 11 pm, DCP Datta Nalawade supervised a team led by senior inspector AS Sawant, inspector Sushant Bandgar, sub-inspectors Ramchandra Pinjarkar and Sandeep Patil, and other police personnel. Police first traced the autorickshaw driver after identifying the vehicle through CCTV footage. The driver then led the police to Kharegaon slum in Kalwa, where he had dropped Shinde.
Police said Shinde had travelled nearly 40 km in the same autorickshaw — from Kalwa to Powai and back — after allegedly committing the offence. Fearing police action, he also stopped begging for the day and returned home. “Shinde paid Rs 1,200 to hire an autorickshaw for the nearly 40-km journey from Kalwa to Powai and back after committing the offence. In total, he earned only Rs 300 from his dubious dealings before fleeing home. He is not a transgender person but an impostor who roams around the city to beg. Depending on his travel plans, he hires a rickshaw. He earns around Rs 1,000 a day by begging,” said sub-inspector and investigating officer Ramchandra Pinjarkar.
Shinde was booked for rape and criminal intimidation and remained in police custody until August 24, police said. He was arrested within four hours of the FIR being registered on Tuesday night.
