The accused involved in the crime were local goons and harassed locals but never reported the incident to cops fearing backlash
After eight persons were arrested for allegedly gang-raping a 32-year-old woman in front of her husband in a slum in Jogeshwari West on Monday night, residents of the area have now come forward claiming that the accused were local goons who often indulged in harassing women and eve teasing in the area. These residents claimed that they did not report the men to the police earlier as they feared a backlash from the gang.
Nastain Sheikh, 19, had allegedly eve teased and harassed a 30-year-old woman in the slum and often passed lewd comments on the women living in the slums. While the other accused often were involved in house breaking thefts and were petty criminals who indulged in consuming drugs and marijuana and were also booked under stringent Narcotic Drugs Psychotropic Substances Act.
"During the night of the incident, the youths were standing in the group keeping an eye on couple's shanty. They managed to trick the husband by calling him outside and then assaulting him", said an Amboli police official.
"They are the local goons who indulged in drugs and often harassed local residents by getting into verbal duel and assaulted if anyone raised a voice", said the official.
"We came to know about their activities when the locals came forward to vent out their anger against the youths. At times, they ganged up together to harass the families living in the slums and stole cellphones to suffice their need for alcohol and drugs. Many of them are jobless and did odd jobs to manage their day to day expenses. Their families did not bother about them since they were addicted to drugs and alcohol", said the official.
Had the locals of the slum raised their voice earlier, such an incident might have been avoided.
Bharat Gaikwad, Senior Inspector for Amboli police station said, "We never received the complains from the locals about the harassment but later they came forward to reveal that they were harassing them too often".
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