A departmental probe ordered by the Mumbai police chief to investigate why a molestation victim was made to visit three police stations to get her case registered has given a virtual clean chit to the policemen accused of burking the case.
In his report, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Mahesh Patil, concluded that there was no ‘major lapse’ committed by the policemen probing the case.
Mr. Patil has agreed with the justification given by the policemen for not lodging a zero FIR.
A senior police officer privy to the report said, according to the report “while a zero FIR should have been registered by the officers, they decided to take the victim to the crime spot. This decision helped them in solving the case within a few hours. A zero FIR in this case might have caused delay in nabbing the accused.” However, Mr. Patil has given an adverse report against a police sub-inspector attached with the Sahu Nagar police station for failing to accompany the victim to the spot.
On August 17, the 21-year-old victim was allegedly molested by two youths at an isolated spot in Bandra in western suburban Mumbai. The victim and her boyfriend who were on a bike ride had stopped near Dharavi, a central suburb close to Bandra, looking for cigarettes. The three accused allegedly offered them to help locate a shop and lead them to a deserted alley. Two of the three accused then allegedly molested the victim and even punched her boyfriend before fleeing with their mobile phones.
When the victim and her boyfriend wanted to file a complaint at the Dharavi police station, they declined it as the crime spot came under Sahu Nagar jurisdiction. A police team dropped them at the Sahu Nagar police station where the victim again narrated her ordeal and a police team took her to the crime spot. A sub-inspector rank officer who was on duty did not accompany them. When the police team realised that the ‘spot’ comes under Bandra police station, they took her there and a case was registered.
Embarrassed by the burking and the ordeal caused to the victim, Mumbai police commissioner Rakesh Maria had apologised to the victim and had ordered an inquiry into the case.
However, the report mentions that the police managed to crack the case within four to five hours and nab the culprits.
“The victim in her statement has expressed no grouse against the policemen. On the contrary, she was pleased that the case was cracked within a few hours,” he added.
