Rape, assault, abuse: Vasai-Virar has had one case registered daily from January 1 | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: A 19-year-old woman was stunned when she saw the Instagram post of a college friend as it included nude photographs of her. The woman told her mother she had had an affair two years ago, with a man she had consensual sex with at a lodge at Arnala in Virar. She said that, last week, her former boyfriend had asked her to drop out of college, and threatened to post nude photographs of her online if she did not comply. When she refused to back down, he delivered on his threat.

The woman wanted to lodge a complaint with the Achole police. Instead of registering a case under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO), the Achole police tried to dissuade the teenager from pursuing the matter.

“I visited the police station for five consecutive days and, still, they would not register an FIR. They tried to scare me, saying “my past credentials would be investigated”. By this, they meant details of me having consensual sex earlier would also come out. That’s when I decided to register a rape case, instead of a case relating to the Instagram post,” said the 19-year-old woman.

Cases like this, of sexual assault and rape in the Vasai-Nalasopara-Virar region, are being registered with the Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar Police (MBVV), at the rate of roughly one a day, a shocking statistic that suggests a potential law and order situation for women in this region, on the outskirts on Mumbai.

According to figures provided by the MBVV police, in September alone, there were 33 rape cases and seven gang rapes registered. From January to August this year, there were 291 rape cases registered, and 228 arrests. Last year, the police registered a total 380 rape cases, with 372 arrested made.

Hindustan Times spoke to the police, social workers, non-profits working with women and residents in the area, and a complex reality emerged.

‘Social Media Making Young Girls Vulnerable’

Says Tejashree Shinde, who heads the all-women’s Bharosa Cell, a police counseling initiative for women victims, “We have observed that teenage girls are particularly vulnerable. Often, when their parents are away at work, they get acquainted with boys and men, and are then seduced and abducted. They are subjected to sexual harassment. POCSO cases have become a social problem in this region. Social media has made it very easy for young girls to connect with men they don’t know.”

While the police admit that the number of rape cases in Vasai-Virar is especially high, they say the community has an equal part to play in keeping women safe. They claim that in a majority of rape cases registered in the Vasai-Virar region, the men are known to their victims. A senior police official narrated the case of a 16-year-old woman from Mumbai who was acquainted with Anis Shaikh (23), a resident of Achole in Nalasopara. Shaikh and the girl engaged in consensual sex in his home on September 2. Next, Shaikh introduced the girl to his friend Zian and the three of them went to a park in Nalasopara. After that, they went to a lodge in Arnala, where the two men raped her after spiking her drink. They also shot a video of the crime to blackmail her, to keep her quiet. The victim lodged a police complaint. “We have arrested Shaikh and are trying to trace Zian,” said Assistant Police inspector Bhagwat Baghdane, with the Achole police.

Communication Gap With Parents

Sushant Pawar, a social worker who has been helping victims of rape for over a decade, says that while sexual assault and rape can never be condoned, there is a social angle to the crime as well. He is familiar with the above case and says, “The 16-year-old often went to Nalsopara without the knowledge of her mother and often stayed out overnight. The absence of parents or a communication gap between parents and children is one of the main reasons minors and teenage girls are vulnerable to such crimes,” he says.

The Achole police cite the instance of Dr Yogendra Shukla, a dentist from Nalasopara (East), who they arrested for allegedly raping a woman for eight years after he promised to marry her. The woman, now 21 years old, had met Shukla at a vulnerable time in her life. Her parents had died in 2016 and he had promised to take care of her and marry her once she turned 18. When the woman realised he had no intention of marrying her and that his behaviour amounted to rape, she lodged a complaint against Shukla at Achole police, after which he was arrested.

Coastal Belt Is A Den of Crime

There’s another angle to the worrying rise in crimes against women in the Vasai-Virar region. Locals point out that the coastal belt here is a den of all kinds of illegal activities, and it flourishes due to corruption in the police force. “There are many illegal lodges in Arnala that have become crime scenes. These lodges do not ask patrons to submit proof of identity and rent out rooms on an hourly basis,” says Sushant Pawar, who has helped many victims file police complaints. “These lodges have the blessings of the police.”

He adds, “The problem that the Mumbai police encountered with lodges in Aksa, Madh Island and Gorai is now being faced by the police in Vasai-Virar. These coastal areas afford easy access to beaches and other vacant areas, which are poorly lit,” adds Pawar. Naturally, he says, the police are reluctant to file rape cases and dissuade from pressing charges, he adds.

Police officers say that there is a large migrant population in Vasai-Virar and marital abuse and rape is common among this community. Prakash Gaikwad, Deputy Commissioner of Police, says, “In several cases of marital disputes, abuse and stalking, we arrest the accused and counsel the victim and the perpetrator. Sometimes, the police assume that the problem is solved. But even after police intervention, the problem persists,” he says.

“Many women say that even after serving a sentence, their husbands, boyfriends or stalkers have returned and harassed or abused them,” said Gaikwad. He adds that Operation Punardhairya, an initiative of the MBVV police, revisits complaints filed by women. “If the problem persists, we take it further so that women don’t have to suffer the same crime.” Under the programme, each police station is tasked to take a follow-up action on women-related issues and complaints and submit a report every month, he says.

Urban Design & Crime

Snehal Velkar, who works with Akshara, a non-governmental organisation focused on women’s issues, has an interesting perspective on how urban design can contribute to crime. “The design of a city plays an important role in crime,” says Velkar. “Many areas in the MBVV region are still poorly lit and women feel unsafe walking in quiet, residential areas after dark. This needs to be addressed by the municipal authorities and the police,” she points out.

However, Jaywant Bajbale, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Vasai-Virar), believes the police presence is adequate in the area. “All police officers have been trained to handle sexual offences properly. Our women’s helpline receives hundreds of calls but most of them are ‘technical’ in nature,” says Bajbale. By this, he means alliances that start out as consensual but spiral into sexual assault and rape.

That’s not always true. A Pelhar resident in Nalasopara (East) says his seven-year-old daughter was playing outside their home after dark, when 35-year-old Shubham Yadav allegedly dragged her to an abandoned shop and sexually assaulted her while a 14-year-old boy shot the act on his mobile phone. “Yadav is a drug addict and has molested two other children on our street. It has been five days, but the Pelhar police haven’t arrested him,” he says.

Reaching Out, Giving Hope

For the last two years, Vasai resident Vikas Walkar has been wondering what he could have done to protect his only daughter, Shraddha, who had been murdered and dismembered by her boyfriend in Delhi, in a case that had made national headlines. Still grieving, Walkar launched an initiative only last month, to reach out to women like his daughter in need of help. His charitable trust, named after Shraddha, not only aims to spread awareness about the laws protecting women who have been sexually assaulted, but also provides legal aid to victims of sexual abuse.

“The Shraddha Walkar Charitable Trust also counsels victims of abuse,” says Walkar. He says that even though his daughter’s case is being heard by a fast-track court, she is still awaiting justice. “This trust is a means to keep Shraddha’s memory alive and assure women across the country that they are not alone.”