A 23-year-old woman management graduate who works with a fitness firm in Mulund, was returning home from work around 9.30 pm when she got into a shared autorickshaw.

Her male co-passenger was already seated in the vehicle. As soon as their autorickshaw began its journey, the co-passenger allegedly started touching her inappropriately. She objected and raised an alarm, Thane police PRO Sukhada Narkar said.

However, the autorickshaw driver, instead of helping her, took a turn and headed towards Pokhran Road No. 2 in Thane. Later, the co-passenger and the autorickshaw driver allegedly beat up the woman. They then pushed her out of the vehicle at an isolated spot on Pokhran Road and molested her and then fled, Mr Narkar said.

The Thane victim, who sustained injuries due to the fall last night, was helped by some passersby and admitted to a hospital where she is undergoing treatment, they said.

Some passersby found the woman lying on the road and took her to a hospital. Mr Narkar said four police teams have been formed to trace the autorickshaw driver and the unidentified passenger.

The Naupada police have registered a case of molestation, kidnapping, physical assault and criminal intimidation.

The incident comes close on the heels of the gang-rape of a 23-year-old woman and murder of her nine-month-old baby last week in Gurgaon uttar pradesh by three men travelling with her in a shared autorickshaw.

In August 2014, a 24-year-old software professional had suffered serious injuries when she jumped off a moving autorickshaw in Thane after the driver allegedly tried to abduct her. The incident had also taken place around 9.15 pm, when she boarded the vehicle at Kapurbawdi Naka.