27 trekkers assailed by 13 vigilantes at a fort near Lonavala
While 10 men and women have been booked for assault, molestation, cops are looking for 3 others.
While numerous women were being groped and thrown to the ground in Bangalore on New Year’s Eve, a group of 27 trekkers from Mumbai and Pune, who were ringing in the new year at Visapur Fort near Lonavala, were manhandled by 13 vigilantes who claimed to be protectors of the Fort. Following a complaint registered with the Pune Rural police two days later, 10 men and women have been arrested on the charges of molestation and assault and the cops are on the lookout for the remaining three.
The Pune Rural police investigating the case said that the group of trekkers was being led by a professional mountaineer, Prateek Gupta, who had arranged the expedition. Gupta had sent invites through social media to trekking enthusiasts for a trip to Visapur Fort, and got 27 responses including one from a minor. The group comprised 12 women and 15 men; the minor was accompanied by his parents.
“While some of the trekkers were singing, others were singing and playing guitar,” said trek leader Gupta. “Then, around 8 pm, four men came up to the site and began flashing their lights in our faces and bags,” he said. When the group members asked them who they were and why they were intruding, they shot back saying they were the “protectors of the fort” and started abusing the trekkers. “We tried explaining to them that we were camping and that no one was carrying any alcohol or anything illegal substances, they got outraged and began cursing us even more,” Gupta said.
The vigilantes separated the men and women and made them sit in two files. By then, some more men and women joined the vigilantes in their moral policing project.
A woman among the intruders told the trekkers they were destroying Indian culture. “She said she was a ‘lioness’ meant to protect the culture and the fort entrusted to her by Maharashtra government,” he said. When the trekkers objected, they were abused, mauled and threatened.
A woman who tried to intervene and protect her husband from being assaulted fractured her hand in the struggle that ensued. The aggression went on for more than four hours. The trekkers then began pleading with the aggressors to be allowed to leave, said another trekker requesting that his name be withheld. “We felt we were being held captive. They wouldn’t let us go anywhere, use our phones, or even budge,” he said.
He said someone managed to call up the police, who reached by 1 am. “The cops took everyone including the vigilantes to the police station, where they did a breath analyser test on all of us. It was negative. The cops then asked us if we wanted to file a case, but we were all so exhausted and horrified that we just wanted to leave the place,” he said.
Then, on January 3, a woman from the group of trekkers approached the Pune Rural police and filed a case of molestation, assault and intimidation against the 13 people, of whom 10 have been arrested.
“We are looking for the other three. They are from a neighbouring village,” said a senior officer from Pune Rural police.
The arrested accused — Amol Shankar Chavan, Kiran Ashok Jadhav, Digambar Shataram Padwal, Rajesh Vishnu Dalavi, Arun Mohan Tambe, Akshay Mahadev Takawale, Nitin Kalyan Salunkhe, Rasika Prakash Varudkar, Nisha Ambadas Chaudhari and Kajal Mahesh Pawar — have been booked under sections 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
While numerous women were being groped and thrown to the ground in Bangalore on New Year’s Eve, a group of 27 trekkers from Mumbai and Pune, who were ringing in the new year at Visapur Fort near Lonavala, were manhandled by 13 vigilantes who claimed to be protectors of the Fort. Following a complaint registered with the Pune Rural police two days later, 10 men and women have been arrested on the charges of molestation and assault and the cops are on the lookout for the remaining three.
The Pune Rural police investigating the case said that the group of trekkers was being led by a professional mountaineer, Prateek Gupta, who had arranged the expedition. Gupta had sent invites through social media to trekking enthusiasts for a trip to Visapur Fort, and got 27 responses including one from a minor. The group comprised 12 women and 15 men; the minor was accompanied by his parents.
They reached Lonavala around noon on December 31 and started trekking towards the fort, where they arrived by 3:30 pm. They set up a camp and lit a bonfire in the evening to usher in the New Year.
“While some of the trekkers were singing, others were singing and playing guitar,” said trek leader Gupta. “Then, around 8 pm, four men came up to the site and began flashing their lights in our faces and bags,” he said. When the group members asked them who they were and why they were intruding, they shot back saying they were the “protectors of the fort” and started abusing the trekkers. “We tried explaining to them that we were camping and that no one was carrying any alcohol or anything illegal substances, they got outraged and began cursing us even more,” Gupta said.
The vigilantes separated the men and women and made them sit in two files. By then, some more men and women joined the vigilantes in their moral policing project.
A woman among the intruders told the trekkers they were destroying Indian culture. “She said she was a ‘lioness’ meant to protect the culture and the fort entrusted to her by Maharashtra government,” he said. When the trekkers objected, they were abused, mauled and threatened.
A woman who tried to intervene and protect her husband from being assaulted fractured her hand in the struggle that ensued. The aggression went on for more than four hours. The trekkers then began pleading with the aggressors to be allowed to leave, said another trekker requesting that his name be withheld. “We felt we were being held captive. They wouldn’t let us go anywhere, use our phones, or even budge,” he said.
He said someone managed to call up the police, who reached by 1 am. “The cops took everyone including the vigilantes to the police station, where they did a breath analyser test on all of us. It was negative. The cops then asked us if we wanted to file a case, but we were all so exhausted and horrified that we just wanted to leave the place,” he said.
Then, on January 3, a woman from the group of trekkers approached the Pune Rural police and filed a case of molestation, assault and intimidation against the 13 people, of whom 10 have been arrested.
“We are looking for the other three. They are from a neighbouring village,” said a senior officer from Pune Rural police.
The arrested accused — Amol Shankar Chavan, Kiran Ashok Jadhav, Digambar Shataram Padwal, Rajesh Vishnu Dalavi, Arun Mohan Tambe, Akshay Mahadev Takawale, Nitin Kalyan Salunkhe, Rasika Prakash Varudkar, Nisha Ambadas Chaudhari and Kajal Mahesh Pawar — have been booked under sections 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty), 325 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
