Rowdies molest foreigner
A city-based auto design engineer paid by getting beaten up for protesting against a group of unruly men who molested his wife and his female colleague in a narrow lane in Mohammedwadi area. The attackers, a group of six men, dragged the engineer out of the lane and beat him up, while the onlookers ignored.
To add insult to the injury, when the victims approached the police within a few hours to lodge a complaint, the police only lodged a non-cognisable complaint. They refused to lodge case under relevant sections of atrocities against woman, alleged the complainant while speaking to dna. His wife, who was also molested, said the police told her since her clothes were intact and not torn, a case of molestation couldn’t be registered.
The Kondhwa police had arrested one man Tuljaram Vinayak Shinde (29), a resident of Wanowrie, for assaulting the engineer. But they just warned and left him, since the tamer non cognisable complaint was registered.
“The police kept law books on the table and asked me to study if the case falls under atrocities against woman. I was shocked. I am not a lawyer or a cop! How would I advice them on laws?” he recalled.
His foreigner colleague is in a shock. She said her parents were not keen to send her to India considering the crimes against women. “I chose Pune over New Delhi as I there is lesser crime here. Two days later I will be leaving India, and this is my farewell,” she said with a bitter sarcasm.
The 32-year-old engineer, a resident of Kalyaninagar working in a German-based company, said the incident took place around 10pm when he along with his wife and a colleague, who is a German national, were en route to a club at Kondhwa.
After reaching the area, they didn’t get parking and so they parked outside and were heading to the club using a narrow lane. “We were walking in single file as the lane was narrow. This person, Shinde, along with his two friends were coming from the opposite direction and tried to get close to my wife. The lane was really narrow so I thought maybe it wasn’t deliberate. But then almost hugged my colleague and that’s when I confronted them. Angered, the trio dragged me to an open space and started beating me up. They ran away when my wife threatened to call police. We immediately alerted the police control room. The police asked us to remain on the spot. My head and nose were bleeding. Within minutes, the trio came back again with three others and again started beating me up. They even instigated my wife to call up police and arrest them.
Does anyone care?
The engineer’s wife said even as six people were beating up her husband and she pleaded onlookers to help, no one stopped. “My husband fell on the road and was about to come under the wheel of a moving car. The driver applied brakes, but just moved on without helping us. To stop their assault, I started beating the goons with my sandal. By the time the police arrived, the six people had left. My husband was taken by a beat marshal and they together zeroed in on one of the six neary.”
“We went to Kondhwa police and they co-operated with us but when we suggested to book them under sections of atrocities against women, the policemen replied, no undue incident has taken place. They said our dress wasn’t torn by the attackers, so no case of molestation or eve-teasing could be made against them.”
Dy CP had to intervene: It was only after the victims contacted the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone IV) Manoj Patil that the Kondhwa police station inspector took the offence seriously. “I have told the officials to verify and start the process of registering a First Information Report and also to apply eve-teasing sectionto the crime report,” Patil said.
Pandharinath Patil inspector in-charge of Kondhwa police station said that he wasn’t aware why his police officers didn’t apply relevant sections on initial complaint. “We are taking cognizance of the offence and we are applying IPC section 509 which talks about word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman. Also section 354, which pertains to molestation, has been applied,” he said.
Here it’s the cop himself
The city policemen were promptly out on the streets on Tuesday evening to ensure that they do their best to prevent eve-teasing on the New Year eve. But, ironically, an assistant police inspector attached to Sahakarnagar police station only had to be arrested for allegedly molesting a woman at a New Year party in his housing society.
The arrest was made by Dattawadi police. The arrested cop Ganpat Kense (57) lives in the same society located in Dattawadi area. He had finished the day’s duty and come home. He was to join his next shift the following morning. The 43-year-old victim lodged the complaint in the wee hours of Wednesday. Kense allegedly molested the woman while she was watching dances being staged as part of the housing society’s New Year party.
“Kense stood behind her and touched her back, which she initially ignored. But when he did not stop, she asked him to go away. Kense claimed he was in the police department and no policeman would entertain her complaint,” Satish Govekar, in-charge of Dattawadi police station said.
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