Woman alleges gang rape in Mahagun Metro Mall Ghaziabad

GHAZIABAD: A 24-year-old woman was allegedly gang-raped inside an SUV parked at the Mahagun Metro Mall in Ghaziabad on Thursday. Police said the rapists were friends of the victim. While one of them later surrendered before cops, the other is on the run and may have taken refuge with an associate of aHaryana politician. The incident has also raised questions about security arrangements at the mall even as the management claimed they heard no alarm or cries for help. 

The second-year engineering student had gone to EDM Mall around 4pm on Thursday when one of the accused, Sandeep Bhati, called her up and asked her to come to the rear of the mall. When she reached there, he offered to take her to a beauty salon in Mahagun Mall for a hairdo. She thought of getting another woman friend along and tried to give her a buzz when the Ghazipur resident allegedly pulled her inside and drove off to the mall. 

At the mall, the accused drove straight into the basement where his accomplice, Nabbu Bhati, an Indirapuram resident, was already waiting. Together, they are alleged to have raped the woman inside the car. They later dropped her back at EDM Mall and threatened to kill her if she told anyone about it, said SP (city) S S Yadav. 

The woman went home and told her family about the incident. With her family's support, she filed a complaint at the Vaishali chowki in Ghaziabad on Friday morning. A case was registered at the Indirapuram police station and the victim was sent for medical examination, the report of which hadn't come at the time of filing of this report. 

On Friday, cops laid a trap and asked the victim to call up the accused and ask them to come to a particular location in Ghaziabad. But both Sandeep and Nabbu got wind of the plan and didn't come. Sensing further trouble, Nabbu turned himself in but Sandeep went underground. 

SSP Praveen Kumar said four teams are tailing Sandeep and raiding his possible hideouts. However, police also said it was surprising how the woman was raped inside the mall when there were so many people there. They have also not received any CCTV footage from the mall. 

The mall management, meanwhile, said they had adequate layers of security in place to take care of any situation and that they ensure that nobody misbehaves with any woman. 

"Had the victim raised an alarm, our security staff would have acted promptly. Guards are posted in every nook and corner of the mall to control any exigency. We would like to reiterate that we take care of security in the best possible manner and our guards are instructed to take action against troublemakers. We will cooperate with the police in the investigation," said themall spokesperson.