Mumbai: Sisters assaulted for feeding dogs now allege receiving threats

Days after mid-day reported about the plight of two sisters, who were assaulted by residents of their building in Goregaon for rescuing and feeding puppies in the society premises, the women have now alleged harassment by the society's committee members. The sisters filed a non-cognisable (NC) against them on Saturday. On October 24, Kiran Ahuja, 29, and her sister Shilpa, 28, were allegedly gheraoed by 20 members of their society, who brutally attacked them. After they filed a complaint, the police arrested three residents for molestation, assault and rioting. However, now, the sisters claim that society committee member Purshottam Shetty and three other residents have started threatening them for raising their voices against the residents. The sisters, who hadn't been residing in the building after the incident, were allegedly threatened when they returned to collect some documents.

Kiran Ahuja, who was manhandled for feeding puppies in the society's premises

"The members are trying to scare us, saying that anything could happen to us because we live in the same building as our harassers," said Kiran. When contacted, Shetty claimed that he had never interacted with anyone by the name of Kiran or Shilpa. "I don't know anything about the issue. I am not aware of the NC," he said. Baliraj Yadav, the society secretary, also said that he had no clue about the incident or the NC registered against the members. However, a senior police officer confirmed that an NC had been filed against four persons. "We are looking into the case," the officer said. Kiran, a physiotherapist, and Shilpa, a lawyer, moved to Sanjay Gandhi Nagar SRA in Dindoshi in March. The sisters are both registered with the Animal Welfare Board of India (AWBI), and regularly feed stray dogs in the neighbourhood. On October 24, when the sisters returned home from their Diwali vacation, one of the residents, Rustom Patel, and his two sons went to their flat at 10.30 am and threatened to throw them out of their house, if they continued to feed the dogs. Kiran and Shilpa rushed to Kurar police station to lodge an NC.

Later in the evening when Kiran found out that Patel was beating the dog with a stick, she tried to stop him. When she intervened, Patel and other residents began abusing and slapping her. After Shilpa joined the argument, residents allegedly assaulted her, too. The sisters then filed an FIRâÂÂÂu00c2u0080ÂÂÂu00c2u0088against Patel, his son, Riyaz, and a third person.