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Unable to pay for police escort from jail, TYBCom student misses exam
Mumbai: Nikita Yadav, a 21-year-old TYBCom student who tried to stop revenue officials from demolishing her house, was unable to take her exam on Wednesday, as she could not pay ₹8,000 per day in total around ₹32,000 to pay for the police escort required to go from jail to the exam centre
Mumbai: Nikita Yadav, a 21-year-old TYBCom student who tried to stop revenue officials from demolishing her house, was unable to take her exam on Wednesday, as she could not pay ₹8,000 per day in total around ₹32,000 to pay for the police escort required to go from jail to the exam centre. Her distressed father Om Prakash Yadav questioned the action. “What is the meaning of the government’s motto ‘Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao’ if a girl student is being obstructed like this?” he said.
On May 3, on the orders of the deputy collector (Mumbai suburban), revenue officials conducted an anti-encroachment operation at Saicharan Chawl, Dingeshwar Lake, Jalaram Mandir, Charkop Village, in which 27 houses were demolished. When this action was being taken, Yadav, her mother Kiran, and brother Alok opposed the action, following which an FIR was registered against them at Charkop police station for obstructing government work. Accordingly, Alok was arrested on May 3 while Nikita and her mother were arrested on May 13.
“I was working when our house was demolished,” said Yadav, who works as a daily wage labourer in the Boisar industrial area. “I rushed to Charkop as soon as I heard. We have been living here for 48 years but never have we faced this kind of action. My daughter tried to save our house, and for this had to miss her exam today.” Yadav, who is currently trying to get bail for his family, has been offered free assistance by three lawyers, Hitendra Gandhi, Sandesh More, and Nikhil Kamble. They filed a bail application in the city sessions court on May 16.
Nikita is a student of M D Shah Mahila College, affiliated to SNDT Women’s University. With the final-year exams beginning on May 17, an application was filed seeking permission for her to appear for the TYBCom exam. While hearing it, Judge S M Taklikar allowed Nikita to appear for the exam in police custody but also ordered the family to pay the settlement amount.
The jail administration asked the family to pay ₹8,000 per day for a police escort as per rules. “Nikita could not appear for the exam on Wednesday, as the family did not have money,” said Kamble. “We have requested the judge to cancel the police escort charges. If the expected decision is not taken by the court on Thursday, we will file a writ petition in the Bombay high court.”
