A 19-year-old youth from Thane, arrested for holding a 16-year-old girl captive and subjecting her to sexual assault, was transferred early Thursday from the Hudkeshwar police station lock-up to the ICU at Government Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). The survivor is currently recuperating in the gynaecological ward of the same facility after undergoing plastic surgery.

Police stated that the accused inflicted self-injuries post-midnight by banging his head against the lock-up walls after demanding VIP treatment. A GMCH medical report indicated that he suffered a fracture in the orbital bone and excess air in his pericardial cavity, prompting doctors to place him in the ICU under 24-hour observation and schedule a CT scan.

Key aspects of the case and ongoing investigation include:

• Incident details: The survivor, the teenage daughter of a senior government official, was held captive for 24 hours in a rented flat in Dighori, where she was handcuffed, tied, forcibly given sex-enhancing pills, and assaulted before being rescued in a late-night police operation.
• Medical treatment: Surgeons at GMCH performed plastic surgery on the survivor's left hand to repair deep wounds caused by a surgical blade attack.
• Evidence collected: During a search of the accused's bedroom in Thane, police seized surgical blades and sex contraptions, though his parents were absent and a visiting family member avoided assisting investigators.
• Court proceedings: On Thursday, police presented the medical report to a special POCSO court. The court granted magisterial custody while reserving the police's right to seek custodial interrogation once the accused is discharged.
• Cyber investigation: Because the accused refused to share phone passwords during interrogation, cyber experts were engaged to access chat history and unlock seized devices to check for potential additional targets.