Kidnap victim made to wait overnight at PS

NAGPUR: It took more than a day for sluggish MIDC police to complete the formalities of registering an offence of kidnapping and medical examination of an 18-year-old victim who had been taken to Gujarat twice on a promise of marriage and job by racketeers who later tried to force her into flesh trade. The racketeers, who may have trafficked other girls too, had tried to sell the girl for 3 lakh.
Namita (name changed) had gone to MIDC police station around a week ago but no offence was registered then for reasons best known to cops. She was sent back after her statement was recorded by sub-inspector PR Patkar. Senior PI NB Gore claimed to be unaware of the incident.
On Tuesday, MIDC police booked Sunil Gawde, Vanita Kharadkar, Meena, Laxmi Tekam and another unidentified elderly woman for allegedly trying to sell Namita as bride in Gujarat. Later, they had also tried to force her into flesh trade but she resisted. The refusal led to torture but she still did not give in. Later, she fled from their clutches. The racketeers had beaten Namita too. She had been trying to escape from the wrath of the racketeers after approaching the police.
On Monday midnight, Namita was brought to MIDC police station after deputy commissioner of police, Zone-I, Abhinash Kumar responded to an emergency situation as she started getting calls from unknown numbers threatening her with dire consequences. An alert citizen had brought the matter to DCP Kumar’s notice.
Despite the senior official’s intervention, MIDC police action remains questionable in many ways. Though they named an unidentified elderly woman as one of the five accused in the case, they seemed to have ignored another aspect. The racketeers had prepared fake voter I-card of the elderly woman to present her as the girl’s mother. It was prepared with the help of an agent from collector’s office to complete the formalities of marriage in Gujarat. No fraud offence was registered despite the serious issue being mentioned by Namita.
The cops’ action of keeping Namita, a school dropout, the entire night at police station and then asking a male officer to record her statement was also questioned by activists. Bharatiya Stree Shakti’s Madhuri Sakulkar stated cops violated norms here. “They could have taken the girl to a shelter home and brought her back at police station in the morning. A woman cop should be asked to record her statement,” she said.
Namita had earlier told TOI she was working at a private hospital before being sent to Gujarat. “I was introduced to Vanita and her partner Sunil by Laxmi who had sheltered me at her Jaitala residence. They took me to Gujarat twice promising marriage and also a lucrative job. I was then forced to enter into immoral activities as they wanted 5,000 from me but I protested,” she said.
MIDC police station’s API Pravin Kale said Namita was allowed a night rest to recover from trauma in presence of two woman cops and also offered refreshments.
“There is no trained woman officer at police station so we had to allow male cop to record her statement in presence of a lady constable,” he said.