We have been struggling to find a place to stay in the city of our dreams, says father of victim

The father’s deep anguish is exacerbated by his challenge of trying to find an affordable place to live in an expensive Mumbai

Mumbai: “I want justice for my daughter; and until we get that, we will not move out of Mumbai,” said the father of the 18-year-old, who was allegedly raped and murdered in her fourth floor room in the Savitridevi Phule Mahila Chhatralaya, in Charni Road, a week ago.

Seated in Ambedkar Bhavan, Dadar, along with his wife and son, on Tuesday afternoon, the bereaved father said, “The government had appointed a committee to inquire about the incident in the women’s hostel, but not a single member of the committee has approached us to share the course of investigation. In fact, no government representative has come to meet us. I request the chief minister and deputy chief minister to take strict action against the person who failed to keep our daughter safe in this city. I also request for the crime to be investigated by the CID.” (HT PHOTO)

The father’s deep anguish is exacerbated by his challenge of trying to find an affordable place to live in an expensive Mumbai. The deceased’s family arrived in the city from Akola on Wednesday, a day after the incident. The family, which cannot afford a hotel stay, has moved thrice in six days, each time a member of a political party has intervened to organise a stay somewhere for a couple of days.

Seated in Ambedkar Bhavan, Dadar, along with his wife and son, on Tuesday afternoon, the bereaved father said, “The government had appointed a committee to inquire about the incident in the women’s hostel, but not a single member of the committee has approached us to share the course of investigation. In fact, no government representative has come to meet us. I request the chief minister and deputy chief minister to take strict action against the person who failed to keep our daughter safe in this city. I also request for the crime to be investigated by the CID.”

Since his arrival, he visited Marine Lines police station thrice, requesting the police to file an FIR against the suspect, “but police are saying we have to wait till the forensic report is out, which will take another two or three days”.

Their present accommodation was organised by Prakash Ambedkar, leader of Bharipa Bahujan Mahasangh, on Tuesday. Soon after their arrival last week, an Aam Aadmi Party worker put them up in a hotel in Kalbadevi. A couple of days later, after Ramdas Athavale leader of Republican Party of India, intervened they were moved to the circuit house in Bandra, “which is abandoned”, before moving the third time on Tuesday.

“We do not have a single relative in Mumbai. We have been struggling in the city of our dreams,” said the Akola resident. “My daughter was staying in a government hostel – I kept here here, trusting the government. Now, the government is ignoring us. We are not returning to our village till the FIR is filed against the warden,” the mother of the deceased added.

Their meritorious daughter had scored 91% in her Class X board exams, which gained her a place in the government polytechnic in Bandra for a diploma in computer science. “She was a bright student, who used to take extra classes on coding and other technical topics,” said one of her college friends who came to visit her the family.

“Her hostel mates have shared the abominable behaviour of the security guard, Prakash. They had tried to complain about him, but no one listened. Now we have lost her,” said the aggrieved father. “She may have been saved if the culprit had not locked the door from outside – someone may have looked in so see is she was still breathing.”

Support from friends

Meanwhile, in support of their deceased friend, 56 present and former residents of the hostel took to social media, posting: “In the light of the recent death of a hostel inmate at the Savitridevi Phule Mahila Chhatralaya, we, the former and current inmates of the hostel, want to highlight several instances of gross negligence by the hostel authorities during our respective tenures in the hostel. Over the years, there have been various occasions when our safety, security and wellbeing were compromised.”

The letter also detailed past instances of lapses reported to authorities, who allegedly looked the other way. A former inmate said in a letter, “Prakash was given the authority to enter any girl’s room at any time of the day. On many instances, he would enter rooms without the inmate calling him, citing bogus reasons such as checking whether the fan was in working condition or not, etc.”