Burglar rapes Spanish woman in Bandra flat MUMBAI’S SPIRAL OF CRIME UNABATED

Mumbai: A bizarre night of house break-ins in a posh locality of Bandra deteriorated into a nightmare for a young expat woman when the thief turned into a predator and raped her twice at knifepoint before fleeing with her money and undergarments. 
    A police first information report has been lodged and sketches of the accused are being circulated to police stations. The 27-year-old Spanish woman, who came to Mumbai on a scholarship to learn music, also takes private classes. She was alone at home on Monday as her flat mate was travelling. 
    Around 2am on Monday, the thief first tried to enter a bungalow on Perry Cross Road, but ran away after a worker inside spotted him. The worker saw him enter the adjoining building and went back to work. The culprit then proceeded to rob a senior citizen in that building before entering the house of the Spaniard in a nearby building. 
    The thief shinned up a drain pipe and entered the third floor flat where she has been residing for four months through an open window. The man, who had partially covered his face with a handkerchief, woke her up and, brandishing a knife, asked for "gold", the victim told the police. She jumped out of bed, and managed to run out and knock on her neighbour's door. But there was nobody inside. The thief dragged her back into the flat and raped her. 
    He again asked her where her valuables were and, rummaging around, found some foreign currency. He settled down with a cigarette he found near the victim's bed and then raped the woman again. 
NIGHTMARE ON PERRY CROSS RD 
Burglar on 'house-hunting' spree at night 
Eyes bungalow, chased away by worker inside 
Breaks into fourth floor flat in adjoining building, steals Rs 5,000 from elderly woman's packed bags 
Next, enters Spanish woman's 3rd floor flat some buildings away 
Waves knife, demands gold. Woman runs out, but neighbour's door is locked 
Burglar drags her back in and rapes her twice 
As woman locks herself into bathroom and screams for help, suspect flees 
Help comes for woman only an hour later Robber-rapist didn't leave behind any evidence 
Took Away Victim's Gown, Undergarments 
    After this, she asked to be allowed to use the toilet. Once in, t h e S p a n i s h woman, whose parents are settled in Germany, locked it and began screaming for help. 
    The watchman of the building told the police that he heard the screaming, but assuming that it was coming from some other building, did not follow up on it. She screamed for over an hour before a maid, who was passing by, informed the police. 
    Roshan Reporter, secretary of the Perry Cross Road (north) Residents' Association, said around 4am she heard someone screaming in the next building, 'Help me, call the police'. "When I opened the window, several people had gathered and the police had been informed. The fire brigade came and broke open her flat door before the police could enter." 
    The thief, hearing his victim screaming, closed the main door from outside and quietly left the building. "The accused seems quite shrewd as he took care not to leave any piece of evidence behind. He has taken the victim's undergarments and night gown along with him," said a police officer on condition of anonymity. Sources said in a rape case, the undergarments are a crucial piece of evidence. 
    The police could not enter the flat as the terrified victim wouldn't come out of the toilet. After the fire brigade broke open the main door, they convinced her that they were cops and persuaded her to open the bathroom door. A special team of crime branch officers has been set up to crack the case. They are going through the list of history-sheeters and have also announced a cash reward for any information on the suspect. 
    "A person saw the accused at the bungalow but unfortunately he didn't inform the police. Otherwise, this incident could have 
been avoided. More unfortunately, the victim ran out of the house and knocked on a neighbour's door, but no one was there," said additional commissioner of police (west region) Vishwas Nangre-Patil, whose office is close to the area of the house break-ins. 
    The sketches being circulated of the suspect were made on the description given by the man at the bungalow and the Spanish woman, who saw the thief after he took off his mask. 
    After being shooed away from the bungalow, the thief had first broken into the fourth floor flat of 79-yearold Neela D'Souza, who had packed her bags and was ready for leave for her son's place in Bhopal on Monday morning, through the kitchen window. She woke up around 5.30am and went to the kitchen to make tea, but was surprised to see the window open. She had alsoseen that her bags were missing from the living room. She called up her other son who lives in a building in the vicinity. 
    Later, while searching the house, they found the bags lying on a window ledge and her belongings strewn around. Also lying were currency notes of small denominations. After the bags were retrieved, it was found that the thief had taken away Rs 5,000 in Rs 500 notes and dumped the change before raiding the Spanish woman's flat. 
    (With inputs by S Ahmed Ali) 
Robbed senior citizen to boost security Vijay V Singh | TNN 
Mumbai: Senior citizen Neela D'Souza, lucky not to be physically harmed during a robbery by a thief who raped a Spanish woman twice that same night, had never felt scared living alone after the death of her husband five years ago. The house break-in has shaken the 79-year-old and she now plans to be more careful about her security. "I am not shattered or frightened. I never expected that someone would be able to climb to the fourth floor to commit a theft. I am now more concerned about security and will adopt appropriate steps to make the house more secure," she said. D'Souza added that she had withdrawn money from an ATM on Sunday night as she was to leave for Bhopal early on Monday morning and wondered if the accused had been keeping an eye on her movements. NIGHT OF HORROR

1 A thief tries to enter a bungalow on Perry Cross Road, Bandra, around 2am on Monday. A worker inside spots him and chases him off

2 Thief breaks into senior citizen's 4th floor flat in adjoining building. Takes her mobiles and luggage packed for a trip to a ledge. Rummages through bags, leaves with 5,000

3 He climbs drain pipe of a nearby building and enters 3rd floor flat. Wakes up expat woman and asks for gold. She runs to neighbour's flat, but nobody's home. Thief drags her back, rapes her at knifepoint

4 The assailant searches the house again and finds some money. He smokes a cigarette and rapes her again. The victim goes to the toilet, locks herself in and starts screaming for help. Thief locks main door and flees

5 Around 4.30am, a woman hears screams and alerts police. Cops enter flat, calm victim and ask her to come out

The bungalow on Bandra's Perry Cross Road, near the office of the additional police commissioner for the west region, that the thief first targeted in the wee hours of Monday

79-year-old Neela D'Souza's building in Bandra