In a shocking incident, a female college student, aged 18, was reportedly raped and murdered in a room of the government-run Savitri Phule Women’s Hostel, next to the Police Gymkhana, in the posh Marine Drive area of south Mumbai. The girl was a student of a government polytechnic in suburban Bandra.
The accused identified as Prakash Kanaujia (between 30-33 years old) was found dead on railway tracks near the hostel. It has been regarded as a suspected suicide by the police. He was married and resided in Colaba and had been a guard there for fifteen years.
The police were alerted between 4 and 5 pm on Tuesday, June 6, after the girl who hailed from Akola, Vidarbha in Maharashtra became untraceable, with her fourth-floor hostel room in the Charni Road area locked from the outside. When a police team entered the hostel room, they discovered signs of forced entry as well as her being strangled to death with a piece of cloth. The investigation into the unfortunate occurrence was launched by the police and a group of forensic and fingerprint specialists.
The deceased may have been the victim of sexual assault, but unambiguous evidence isn’t available, per an official, until the autopsy results. The cops noticed the perpetrator leaving the hostel around 5:00 in the morning after checking the CCTV video. He had left his cell phone behind before leaving.
A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against the security guard under Indian Penal Code Sections 302 (murder) and 376 (rape) within the jurisdiction of the Marine Drive police station based on a complaint from the student’s cousin and circumstantial evidence.
Additional Commissioner Abhinav Deshmukh informed, “We got information that at Savitri Bai Hostel, a girl was missing and her room was locked from the outside. She was found dead inside with a dupatta around her neck. Police suspect that she was murdered after rape. A man working at the hostel had been absconding ever since the incident. We are investigating the matter.” The suspect was also unreachable and the authorities started a probe to apprehend him.
Police formed a squad led by the Additional Commissioner and Marine Drive Senior Inspector Nilesh Bagul to find the accused. The accused was, however, found dead at a nearby train station on Tuesday around 5:30 p.m.
The accused allegedly proceeded to the Charni Road station, which lies behind the hostel on Netaji Subhash Road, and laid at platform number 1. According to the preliminary investigation, he passed away after being run over by a train leaving Churchgate station. Later, his corpse was sent to Gokuldas Tejapl (GT) Hospital for an autopsy. His father was summoned from Colaba to identify the deceased, confirming that it was indeed his son.
It is not known if the offender was hired directly by the hostel administration or via a security firm. Furthermore, it’s uncertain if the required background checks were done, especially if he was hired through an agency.