For the last three months an MBA student was being harassed and stalked by a youth due to which she stopped attending classes.Her Bandra based institute has sought police intervention as there was a threat to her life. The police called the boy and then let him off with a rap on the knuckle.
The girl is a second year student of a part-time MBA course. She also works part-time. According to the complaint, the boy was stalking the girl for the last three months, following her from her Bandra campus to her home in Malad on a daily basis after her classes ended around 9pm. The boy has also accosted her a number of times. He has proposed to the girl on numerous occasions. She rejected his proposals and advances every time but the stalker was persistent.
The boy has been identified as Anand Malige. He is also a student of management but from a different college. What's shocking is that when the girl brought the stalking and harassment to the notice of the Dindoshi Police twice in two months - on May 29 and on June 29 - but the police chose to register only a non-cognisance complaint instead of an FIR. They did call in the boy to the police station but allegedly let him off with a beating and a warning.
This encouraged the boy further. He tattooed the girl's name on his arms and continued to stalk her. The horrified girl brought the harassment to the notice of the college authorities on July 8 following which the college took the complaint to the Bandra police.
"As the Bandra police too failed to take action, the institute forwarded the complaint to us on Friday," said Kranti Jejurkar, chairperson of Women Development Cell of the University of Mumbai.
Meanwhile, the institute has asked the girl not to attend classes. One of her professors said, “Last Monday, we spoke to her at length and immediately informed the police. We also provided her with women's helpline numbers, and that of the director of the institute besides my number just in case there was an emergency. Fearing for her safety we advised her not to come to the institute as the classes are conducted late in the evening.”
This has not gone down well with many students. “Not coming to campus is not a solution, especially when she is doing a professional course,” one of them said.
Kranti Jejurkar flayed the police for not registering an FIR despite the seriousness of the crime. "This raises questions over their method of work. They should immediately arrest the boy and release him only after adequate counselling. We don’t want a repeat of the Chetna College incident.”
Senior PI of Bandra police station, Abhay Shastri, couldn’t be reached but Nitin Khairnar, sub inspector of the Dindoshi police station, said, “We summoned Malige from his Panvel residence to the police station following the girl's complaint. He apologised to the girl in front of us and also promised not to harass her in the future. We lodged a non-cognisable offence against him and fined Rs1,250 for indecent behaviour with a girl in a public place under Mumbai Police Act. The victim refused to lodge an FIR against him. So, we kept him in custody for a few hours and then released him.”
Under Criminal Laws (Amendment) Act (Anti-rape bill passed early this year after the 2012 Delhi gang rape case) stalking (section 354D) is a non-bailable offence. It says that a man following a woman and trying to contact her repeatedly without her consent and despite a show of disinterest, can be sent to jail for maximum of three years, provided it is the first time the person is convicted of the crime. For subsequent convictions, he could be sentenced to a maximum of five years with or without fine.
According to lawyer YP Singh, "As this section of anti-rape law is a non-bailable offence, police must arrest the man after receiving the complaint."
Chetna College case
In December last year, Nikhil Bankar, a third-year Bachelor of Management Studies student of Chetna College, Bandra stabbed his classmate on the staircase of the college and then killed himself. The girl died after a few days.
The girl had complained to the college authorities. She even lodged a police complaint that Bankar had been harassing and stalking her. Neither the college nor the police took serious note of the complaint.
The incident shocked the city. The university has asked all colleges to strengthen their women development cells and sensitise girls and boys on sexual harassment and safety of women.
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