Man Arrested for Sexually Assaulting Airhostess in Powai Flat
A man identified as Anil Shinde has been arrested by police for allegedly sexually assaulting a 25-year-old airhostess inside her paying guest accommodation in Powai after posing as a transgender person.
According to police, Shinde told investigators on Tuesday that he and two friends, who also impersonate transgender persons, regularly hire autorickshaws to travel to residential societies across the city to seek alms. Shinde stated that they preferred taking autorickshaws instead of local trains due to fear of harassment, with each person earning approximately Rs 1,000 daily.
On Tuesday morning, the trio targeted the Marol and Powai belt. They hired an autorickshaw from Kalwa, travelling about 20 kilometres before getting down between Marol and Powai. They instructed the autorickshaw driver to wait for their return and proceeded in different directions.
At around 12:20 pm, Shinde entered a residential building in Powai through an unmanned gate. Although a security guard stationed at another gate followed him, the guard left after the flat owner, an 85-year-old widow, permitted Shinde inside.
The elderly flat owner introduced Shinde to the airhostess, who was living there as a paying guest, and asked him to help cure her problem because her husband was hospitalised with dengue.
Shinde subsequently took the airhostess into her bedroom, where he committed the sexual assault.
Before fleeing the premises, Shinde collected Rs 200 from the airhostess and Rs 100 from the senior citizen under the guise of dakshina, a police officer said.
