07 October,2016 08:30 AM IST | | Laxman Singh
In yet another incident of rooms at the legislators' hostel in Nariman Point, Mumbai being misused, the accused used the Naigaon MLA Vasantrao Chavan’s room to rape the victim on the pretext of marriage
The Manora MLA hostel at Nariman Point in Mumbai. Pic/Shadab Khan
In a shocking incident, a 19-year-old has claimed that she was repeatedly raped over a period of seven months inside the MLA hostel at Nariman Point - Manora. An FIR to that end has also been lodged at the MIDC police station against the accused, one Maheshwar Kadam, a resident of Naigaon. He has been charged under Sections 376 (to commit rape) and 420 (cheating). Incidentally, the room where the frequent rape occurred was allotted to Naigaon MLA, Vasantrao Chavan.
The incident
According to the FIR, (a copy of which is available with mid-day), from September 2015 to April 2016, the accused had a physical relationship with the victim, a college student who is an Andheri resident, under the false pretext of eventually marrying her and then reneging on that promise.
Kadam was arrested in the last week of September and sent to police custody till October 7.
How it happened
Last September, she kept getting calls on her cellphone and after initially ignoring it, she answered it.
"The person on the other side introduced himself as Maheshwar Kadam, a gram sevak from Naigaon," says her statement.
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"Later, we started to talk and kept in touch over the phone. Kadam even told me that he would marry me and over time, I started trusting him. Every month, he visited me a couple times with his friend Kiran Kadam."
In February, Kadam picked her up and took her to room 9-C of the Manora MLA hostel. "There, Kadam asked me to have a physical relationship with him and I refused. But he reassured me that he is going to marry me, so I consented. After that, we regularly got physical," the victim has told the police.
However, In June, after my college finished, we didn't meet for a long time. Meanwhile, my mother also found out about Kadam and when I explained our desire to marry, my family initiated inquires," she says, adding, "But when my father approached him, he refused, since he was already married with children. He even threatened to put my photographs on Facebook if we pressurised him to marry me."
The lawyer alleges
Advocate Nanda Singh, representing the victim, said, "These rooms allotted for MLAs are used for sexual exploitation.
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Not just Maheshwar, his friend Kiran was also using a room with another female friend by posing as husband-wife. These people are habitual offenders, and police should conduct a detailed investigation, since it seems to be a racket."
The MLA defends
When asked, Chavan refuted the rape charges and insisted that it was a consensual relationship. "I am aware of the issue, since I know both the accused and the victim.
I had given the letter to Kadam to stay at my room. I give letter to several people from the village when they need to visit Mumbai for health treatment or any work in Mantralaya." However, he went on to clarify, "But, I am not aware about Kadam's activities."
