I regret not reporting Prakash to the administration, says friend of victim

The victim had confided in her that about molestation by the security guard last month. Residents asked to vacate premises by the weekend

MUMBAI: A close friend of the 18-year-old who was allegedly raped and murdered on the premises of Savitribai Phule Girls’ Hostel, at Charni Road, told the investigating officers of Marine Drive police station on Thursday that the accused, 33-year-old Omprakash Kanojia, had molested the victim last month. Thereafter, he tried to come close to her, she told the officers, and expressed regret about not reporting the matter to the hostel authorities.

Relatives and friends of Govt Hostel rape victim, protested and demanded that case be registered against the Warden of Savitri Devi Phule Mahila Chhatralaya, at Marine Drive Police Station in Mumbai, India, on Thursday. (Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times)

“She confided in me in the middle of May. I had insisted that we tell the warden that the security guard had touched her inappropriately. But she refused, saying as she was planning to leave for home soon, she did not wish to escalate the matter,” said the friend.

A day before the incident, the two friends had planned to go out for lunch the next day. “I went to college in the morning but on my return in the afternoon, I looked for her but did not find her anywhere. The door to her room was also locked. I scanned the diary entry at the gate and learnt she had not stepped out either. Later, I received a call from her father who also said she had not been picking up his calls,” said the friend, who was alarmed by now. The deceased was never late in responding to calls or messages.

She set out for the upper floor of the hostel and overheard someone saying that Prakash (Omprakash) had also not been seen in the hostel since that morning. “That was when I made the connection of the two missing. He had been angry for the last couple of days, since he had learnt that we were planning to complain about him,” she said.

After this, the hostel authorities went upstairs, opened her room and found her dead. “I feel guilty. I should have pressed her to lodge the complaint against Prakash, or I should have told the warden about what happened myself,” she said.

Meanwhile, two days after the alleged rape and murder, the government-run facility is being vacated and the residents have been told to clear out of the premises by the weekend. While there were very few residents at the hostel at the time of the incident, some who are waiting for their exams to conclude are worried about their future lodging.

“We come from lower middle class families and having a hostel so close to the college was a blessing. Some of us have exams in July and had the permission to stay on for another month or so,” said one of the students. Now, she said, they were all running around looking for alternate accommodations for a month.

Some have chosen to stay with relatives in distant suburbs, but for others there was no choice but to return to their hometowns. “The hostel management has told us they will clarify their plans for us by Monday. My family will not be able to spend the kind of money that is needed to stay in a rented flat in this area, or most places in Mumbai. This situation has compounded our stress before the exams,” said another student. While some of them seemed apprehensive, others were relieved to leave the premises, given the recent course of events.

“This hostel will be shut down. They will open another one in Bandra,” said a security guard stationed at the gate. According to sources in higher and technical education department, the building is dilapidated and the process to vacate it and shifting the students to other places had started even before the incident.