While the family blamed police inaction for the girl's trauma, senior inspector Balkrishna Gurav of the RA Kidwai Marg police station said they arrested brothers Deepak and Dinesh Chinchwadkar, Yogesh Bhoire, Sanjay Ghadshi and Santosh Tandel for outraging the modesty of a woman. They also arrested two members from the victim's family for assaulting the accused's family members after a cross-complaint was lodged.
It all began on January 13. Pooja (name changed), a Class XI student of a Parel college, her mother, maternal uncle and brother were watching a fight between the five men from their neighbourhood and a stranger outside their Wadala (W) home. The family claimed that suddenly without any provocation, the men, who were drunk, directed their anger towards Pooja's uncle and started beating him up. Pooja's uncle, who lives in Vashi, comes to Wadala on Sundays to take tuitions.
"When my mother ran to save my uncle, the men charged at me and pushed me to the ground. They tore my T-shirt collar and touched me inapprotriately," Pooja told TOI from her hospital bed. "They said they would do more harm to me.
I was screaming, as the ordeal went on for few minutes but no one came to help me. They threatened to rape me." The men also beat up her brother. They fled after her mother and uncle attacked them.
Traumatized, Pooja fell unconscious and was taken to KEM Hospital. The doctors treated her for abrasions on chest, neck and left arm in the OPD and discharged her. Her mother, who is a private tutor, claimed that she waited at the police station till 3am, but no arrests were made.
A day after the incident, the accused surrendered to the police, and got bail. Pooja's mother accused the police of "going soft" on the case as the accused got bail even before the family could get a copy of the FIR.
On January 16, Deepak allegedly accosted Pooja on the road, molested her and threatened to sexually assault her soon. Pooja rushed home and collapsed. Her family again admitted her to KEM. "The girl suffered from acute stress reaction and will need medication for a few days," said Dr Shubhangi Parkar, head of psychiatry, KEM Hospital.
"The girl told the police that one of the accused misbehaved with her three days after the incident, but she refused to sign the statement. She said she would consult with her lawyer first," said an officer. DCP (zone IV) D Karale said they are investigating the case. Though Pooja was discharged on January 19, she is scared of stepping out alone.
Link: Molested twice, cop's daughter in trauma
The silver lining to this story is that cops may start to file FIRs in the cases of molestations and rapes if their own daughters have suffered similar fates. Then, the overall number of rapes should diminish once the cops do the jobs that they are paid to do.
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