Three ‘inebriated’ men also punched bystander and harassed constable at Carter Road in Bandra. Police booked them under bailable sections of the IPC
The prime accused allegedly took off his T-shirt and moved closer to the complainant and her seven-year-old daughter to scare them. Pics/Pradeep Dhivar
In another incident that questions the safety of citizens, a family including a seven-year-old girl, were subjected to foul language and the child’s father was manhandled, when they objected to a trio of men allegedly urinating and holding their private parts at Carter Road. The incident on Tuesday took place around 9 pm at a skating ground where many people go for walks and the spot is diagonally opposite the office of the Additional Commissioner of Mumbai Police (West Region).
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The trio were allegedly inebriated but one of them asked a constable who arrived there, to speak to his ‘politician mother’ and managed to flee. While another man also managed to flee, the police arrested the third who got off on bail the next day.
A screen grab from a video of the incident
The seven-year-old daughter of the man who was manhandled by the three men, pleaded with them not to hit her father but “they did not listen to anyone and continued to raise their voices”, said a witness.
The three men were identified as Arafat Shaikh, Sunny Carvalho and Joseph Gomes. All of them are in their early 20s. The witness told mid-day that Arafat was dragged to Bandra police station. “But the other two fled as one of them allegedly has political backing and managed to get the constable to talk to his mother,” the witness, Ashfaq Hussain told mid-day.
Ashfaq Hussain
The prime accused, Carvalho, allegedly took off his T-shirt and moved closer to the complainant and her seven-year-old daughter to scare them. The incident was captured in multiple videos by witnesses, which are in possession of mid-day.
When confronted
“My daughter noticed the trio doing something unusual and brought it to my notice. When I saw, I felt awkward. So I told my husband, who questioned the trio. They were holding their genitals for 25 minutes and pretended to be peeing in a public place, where we sit every day on the skating ground,” said the woman, who registered an FIR at Bandra police station on August 31.
The girl noticed the unusual behaviour and brought it to her mother’s notice. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
“My dad tried to make them (the boys) understand, but they were not listening to us. So we called the police and in front of the police, one of them took off his T-shirt and shouted at my parents. They were using bad words, I got scared,” recalled her daughter.
The girl’s father said, “I just went to tell them not to urinate at a place where people often sit. But they picked up a fight and manhandled me. One of them removed his T-shirt in front of everyone. One constable was there but he could not stop him.”
Accused threatens
“The man who took off the T-shirt is Sunny Carvalho. He said at least 10 people pee there and asked me why I caught him. He said, ‘jao jake case karo, apne baap ko bhi bula ke lao’, while his friend Shaikh asked me, ‘war karne ka hai?’ And they were very aggressive,” added the man.
“After they were caught, the prime accused justified his deed claiming he has a kidney stone,” said the woman.
The street lamps around the skating ground at Carter Road are often found switched off and that encourages anti-social elements to harass evening walkers, claimed locals.
“The darkness encourages anti-social elements who gather there to pass lewd comments. The boys are often high on drugs but the cops do nothing. Children go there every day. The safety of women and children is at risk in this place which is hardly 50-metres away from the additional CP’s office on Carter Road. Now, I am scared to take my children to this place. Who will ensure our safety as the cops allowed two of the trio, including the prime suspect to escape? said Hussain.
“The prime suspect called his mother who he said is a politician,. He handed over his phone to a constable who allowed him to leave from the spot. Why was he allowed to go? He has been named in the FIR but was never arrested. Why?” he asked.
Cops late
The complainant woman told mid-day that the situation was so uncontrollable that the constable had to call in for reinforcements. “And the other police reached after 30 minutes. How long does it take to reach from Bandra police to Carter Road?” she asked.
“After we reached police station, the cops made us wait for 30 minute. My statement was manipulated in the FIR as per the desire of a male police officer at the Bandra police station. No woman police constable recorded my statement. I don’t know what all they wrote in the FIR as I don’t understand Marathi,” she said. The FIR (a copy of it is with this reporter) only mentions that the complainant objected to the trio who were peeing at the spot and verbal and physical altercation followed.
Hussain added, “The trio should have been booked under stringent sections of the POCSO Act and molestation but Bandra police booked them under all bailable sections of IPC. Only Shaikh was arrested in the night but he was also allowed to go on bail in the morning,” said Hussain, who is also a social activist in Bandra.
He claimed the police have been calling him at odd hours to assist them in the investigation as a witness. “On the one hand, they are letting the prime accused go free but harassing me late in the night. Senior officers must look into this,” he added.
When contacted, zonal DCP Manjunath Singe said he was busy in the Governor’s programme.
Aug 30
When the incident took place at night
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