ByNitasha Natu, TNN | Mar 17, 2013, TRAPE

MUMBAI: In the third case reported in the city in a week, a 30-year-old woman was gangraped by seven persons late on Friday in her shanty adjoining the Matunga railway compound wall. Some of the accused thrashed the victim’s husband to prevent him from coming to her rescue or raising an alarm. The Dadar GRPregistered an offence of gangrape, assault, sodomy and intimidation, before transferring it to the Matunga city police station. No arrests were made.On Wednesday, a woman was gangraped at Vile Parle while in a separate incident the same day, a eunuch was sodomized in a moving van at Kurla.

The husband of the Matunga victim grows vegetables near the tracks. They have an 18-month-old daughter who went missing six months ago. This is the victim’s second marriage; her first husband resides in Bhiwandi with their three kids.

“Two of the seven accused, Siddhu and Anoop, are known to the victim’s husband. Siddhu is a resident of Matunga labour camp,” said a police officer.

Around 6pm on Friday, the victim and her husband had a fight. Siddhu arrived at their house soon after and began instigating the victim’s husband to desert her. After Siddhu made a pass at her, the victim’s husband threatened to lodge a complaint with the RPF against him. This prompted Siddhu to leave.

Later that night, the couple was asleep when some men knocked at the door around 11.45pm. They claimed to be looking for a friend. “Once inside, some of the accused dragged out the victim’s husband and thrashed him with bamboo sticks. The others took turns to rape her,” said an officer. The victim was also sodomized. Her husband couldn’t come to her aid as he was injured. The accused left around 1.15am.