Kasliwal being escorted to jail. (File picture)

Mumbai, May 30: Two months after a 52-year-old woman accused textile scion Abhishek Kasliwal of repeatedly raping her in his Mercedes, a report from a DNA fingerprinting laboratory has confirmed the early morning sexual assault.

Police sources said tests at the Hyderabad-based Centre for DNA Fingerprinting and Diagnostics Laboratory revealed that the semen found on the woman’s clothes matched with the semen samples of the 26-year-old whose family owns the S Kumar’s brand.

Deputy commissioner, Zone III, Santosh Rastogi, however, refused to discuss the report, which strengthens the case against Kasliwal.

“Yes, we have received the report from the laboratory about 10 to 12 days ago. I would not like to discuss the contents as we are wrapping up the case and would soon file the chargesheet,” the police officer said.

The woman, the widow of a Goanese sailor, had come to Mumbai in search of a job. In the FIR she filed on March 11 with Colaba police station, she alleged that Kasliwal asked her where she wanted to go and offered her a lift.

She told him she wanted to be dropped at Mumbai Central station, but Kasliwal drove the car into the compound of the family-owned Shriram Mills in Worli and repeatedly raped her.

Kasliwal later dropped her back in the Colaba area from where he had picked her up sometime after 2 in the night.

Police investigations showed evidence of a scuffle between Kasliwal and the woman, who suffered bruises and a fracture. The police subsequently arrested Kasliwal after watchmen of Shriram Mills identified the owner of the Mercedes as Kasliwal.

The two guards had opened the mill’s locked gates to allow the car to enter the compound.

Kasliwal was sent to Bangalore for lie-detector and brain-mapping tests. The police also sent hair samples and a used condom found in the Mercedes to a forensic laboratory. When the forensic lab reports could not conclusively prove rape, the police despatched the clothes of the victim and the accused to the Hyderabad lab.

Kasliwal had denied rape and termed the intercourse consensual sex. His lawyers had argued in court that the woman had demanded money after the intercourse and, when Kasliwal refused to give in to her demand, she filed the rape charge.

On April 18, Bombay High Court had granted Kasliwal bail but directed him not to leave the city without its permission.

Kasliwal is the younger of the two grandsons of Abhay Kumar Kasliwal, who founded the S Kumar’s group with brother Shambhu Kumar in 1948. The group has business interests in textiles, energy, information technology and leisure and entertainment, and has an estimated turnover of over Rs 1,000 crore.