Rape victim helps police nab rapist by pointing towards hair

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A mentally challenged rape victim gave a very important clue to the Crime Branch and helped in nabbing her rapist. She pointed at her hair to catch the accused, who was a hairdresser and was identified as Shohaib Kasar, 24. He was arrested from his flat in Virar on 17 January.

During the interrogation, the accused confessed that the victim was found pregnant three months ago. The incident came to light on January 9 when the victim's mother noticed that her daughter complained of constant stomach ache and took her to see a doctor. She was shocked on finding out that her daughter was sixteen-weeks pregnant. The victim was then admitted to a hospital and is still under treatment.

A police officer told Mumbai Mirror, "After the doctors told the mother that her daughter was pregnant, the Kurar police had registered a case of sexual assault on a mentally challenged person under relevant sections of IPC on January 9, against unknown accused. The Crime Branch too had been conducting a parallel probe since then."

Initially, the police did not get any clues in the case. The police shortlisted 20 suspects and questioned them.

The officer further said, "Woman Police constable Ashwini Devlekar went to meet the victim in a hospital earlier this week and asked her about the suspect. To this, the victim only pointed at her own hair. Suspecting that the perpetrator had some connection to hair, the policewoman gestured to the victim to try and establish whether the suspect had long hair, or worked in a hair salon. To this, the victim nodded. She responded positively when asked if the man who had attacked her was a hairdresser."

As per sources, the cops had also visited a number of hair salons and questioned their owners and employers. The cops learned that one of the employees at a salon had quit the job two months ago and moved to Virar. When the cops reached the accused on Thursday, he revealed that he used to talk to the victim when he saw her walking past his workplace.

"He confessed to sexually assaulting the woman at an isolated spot and later fled to his native place in Uttar Pradesh. The 24-year-old accused was arrested by the police and handed over to the Kurar police on Friday for the further legal process. The police will now take his DNA samples to gather evidence and build a water-tight case in the matter. The accused was produced before the court, which remanded him in police custody."

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