'Boys throwing eggs at girls is minor mischief,' Mumbai Police tells Maharashtra HRC

An alleged harasser passes by as the girls make their way to school

The Sakinaka police have filed an affidavit in response to the Maharashtra State Human Rights Commission (MSHRC) in connection with the alleged harassment of girls at the hands of minor boys outside their school, stating that the latter throwing eggs at the former was "an act of minor mischief." The affidavit further alleged that the alleged victims' lawyer had dragged out the matter.

The victims had filed a complaint in the MSHRC, and the latter ordered the DCP to form a fact-finding committee and submit a response in the matter on or before March 27. The matter had come to light on January 19, when a minor group of boys allegedly threw eggs on a minor group of girls in Sakinaka.

According to the response affidavit, on that day, the Sakinaka police received a call and went to the spot to resolve the fight between the group of minors. The boys and their parents were called to the police station and upon inquiry, they admitted that they had thrown eggs as an act of mischief.

The police had recorded the statements of the boys and girls in front of their parents and had asked the boys not to do such things. According to the response affidavit, the victims' lawyer Pankaj Mishra had told the victim's parents not to sign documents of their recorded statements, and they acted accordingly. It also states that the lawyer pressured the police to register an FIR against the minor boys. The police then sent a letter to the Child Welfare Committee but it refused to register an FIR against the boys.

LawyerSpeak

Mishra told mid-day, "Surprisingly, the affidavit further states that there is a diary record against me. The diary record states that I had forced the victims not to give their signatures as the police had not shown the documents of the recorded statements. My job is to give legal advice to my clients. I was unaware that a diary record had been maintained by the police."

The affidavit further alleged that the Mishra had tried to give a communal angle to the matter."

"I will take appropriate legal action once the detailed affidavit of action taken in this matter is submitted in the high court. In this case, instead of conducting a proper and fair investigation, the Mumbai police seems to be taking the case in a different direction just to hide their mistakes in this matter," said the lawyer.
Mangesh Shinde, DCP, Zone X, said, "I cannot comment on this matter to the media as minors are involved."

Regional Additional CP Paramjit Singh Dahiya, did not respond to mid-day's calls by press time.

Jan 19
Day egg-throwing incident occurred