Woman raped in moving car in Kolkata

Kolkata, June 8: Within four months of the sensational Park Street rape case where a woman was raped in a moving car, another housewife has been raped in a moving car in Kolkata on Thursday night.

Unlike earlier Park Street case, this time police took prompt action and within hours of the incident cops managed to round up the accused driver and seized the sedan car used in the crime.

Sources said that Ruchita (name changed) Sarkar, the 26-year-old housewife, hails from Barrackpore in the northern fringes of the city. Her husband is admitted at SSKM hospital and on Thursday night she left the hospital around 11pm. She was supposed to catch Naihati Local train from Sealdah at 11.40pm.

She could not get any cab in front of the hospital and walked down towards nearby Exide crossing looking for a cab. At that time ,a sedan car, bearing commercial registration, stopped in front of her and agreed to drop her at Sealdah. Such shuttle car system is regular in the city.

The woman boarded the car and the driver drove down towards Park Circus, where the accused-driver stopped and picked up another youth Habib Rahman. "The driver asked Habib to drive and the car started going towards EM Bypass," said an investigator.

The woman was not accustomed with the city roads and she could not make out that the car was going on a wrong way. According to the woman, the car stopped near a deserted stretch where the driver overpowered the woman and raped her. Another youth, who was later picked up by the driver, reportedly tried to resist the accused.

Later around 3.30 pm, the accused dropped the victim near Sealdah. In distressed condition, the woman managed to reach to the cops at nearby police kiosk. The officer of the kiosk informed officer-in-charge of Entally police station. Soon, cops took up the case and after speaking to the woman, police started a manhunt and traced Habib Rahman, the second youth, near Park Circus. The person cooperated with police and prime accused Mumtaz Khan, the 40-year-old driver, was picked up by the morning. The woman has been sent to NRS medical college for medical test, said Satyajit Banerjee, Deputy Commissioner (eastern suburban division).