MUMBAI: Two years after a girl had been sexually assaulted at her home in the city in 2021, a case was filed against three people on Tuesday. The girl, who was then 17 years of age, was allegedly assaulted by two women who were her mother’s friends and a male friend of theirs. The alleged crime took place when the girl’s mother, a nurse at a city hospital, used to report to work on night duty.
TOI reported the case in its edition dated December 5.A case has now been filed against the two women – Shobna Purbia (50), Biji Albin (53) – and their male friend, Pankaj Gohil, by the city police. The three have been booked under sections of Indian Penal Code that pertain to sexual assault, outraging the modesty of a woman, rape besides provisions of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) act.
The incident of 2021 took place during the peak period of Covid-19 when the girl was still a minor. Her mother had allowed two of her friends – Purbia and Albin – to stay at her home. The girl has stated that while her mother was away, the two women offered her some food and drink that was “spiked”, making her drowsy. When she regained momentary consciousness, she found the two women molesting her. Initially, she brushed it aside as a nightmare, but the morning after when she experienced pain, she realised something was wrong.
A few days later, she said that the two women repeated the act. The girl has stated that she tried to stop them, but found that she did not have enough strength to. The following day, when she told the two women that she would complaint to her mother, they blackmailed the girl with her nude photos they had shot.
Subsequently, Purbia called her boyfriend, Gohil, and and forced the girl to sleep with him saying he would pay for it, the girl has said, adding that she “felt like committing suicide”. The girl has said that the women also showed her a picture of the boyfriend sexually abusing her and threatened her saying they would upload it on social media and then they beat her up.
At one point, the girl’s mother noticed changes in her behaviour and sent her to their Kerala home for a change where she visited a counsellor and narrated about the alleged sexual abuse. The counsellor wrote to the Kerala police about the ‘medico-legal case’, asking them to file a criminal offence. The Kerala police then transferred the case to the Mumbai police.
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court’s directives on cases related to sexual assault)
TOI reported the case in its edition dated December 5.A case has now been filed against the two women – Shobna Purbia (50), Biji Albin (53) – and their male friend, Pankaj Gohil, by the city police. The three have been booked under sections of Indian Penal Code that pertain to sexual assault, outraging the modesty of a woman, rape besides provisions of the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) act.
The incident of 2021 took place during the peak period of Covid-19 when the girl was still a minor. Her mother had allowed two of her friends – Purbia and Albin – to stay at her home. The girl has stated that while her mother was away, the two women offered her some food and drink that was “spiked”, making her drowsy. When she regained momentary consciousness, she found the two women molesting her. Initially, she brushed it aside as a nightmare, but the morning after when she experienced pain, she realised something was wrong.
A few days later, she said that the two women repeated the act. The girl has stated that she tried to stop them, but found that she did not have enough strength to. The following day, when she told the two women that she would complaint to her mother, they blackmailed the girl with her nude photos they had shot.
Subsequently, Purbia called her boyfriend, Gohil, and and forced the girl to sleep with him saying he would pay for it, the girl has said, adding that she “felt like committing suicide”. The girl has said that the women also showed her a picture of the boyfriend sexually abusing her and threatened her saying they would upload it on social media and then they beat her up.
At one point, the girl’s mother noticed changes in her behaviour and sent her to their Kerala home for a change where she visited a counsellor and narrated about the alleged sexual abuse. The counsellor wrote to the Kerala police about the ‘medico-legal case’, asking them to file a criminal offence. The Kerala police then transferred the case to the Mumbai police.
(The victim’s identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme Court’s directives on cases related to sexual assault)