Charni Road hostel death: Kesarkar assures girl’s family of justice

State minister assures justice for 18-year-old girl found dead in Mumbai hostel; government grants accommodation and extended audit of hostels in state.

“The state government is with the family.” This was the assurance state school education minister and guardian minister of Mumbai city Deepak Kesarkar gave to the grieving family of 18-year-old girl who was found dead at Savitridevi Phule Women’s Hostel in Charni Road.

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Not a single government official visited the family since their arrival in Mumbai from Akola on June 7, a day after the incident. After HT reported on Wednesday how the family was struggling to live in a city that is otherwise expensive, a police officer called a family member and told him that the police department would arrange accommodation for them in south Mumbai.

Late on Wednesday night, Kesarkar visited the family at Ambedkar Bhavan, Dadar, and assured them that “justice will be given to the girl”.

“I had a word with higher and technical education minister Chandrakant Patil and inquired about the progress of the two-member committee that he had set up to investigate the matter. We will definitely punish the culprits,” Kesarkar added.

Meanwhile, Aanandraj Ambedkar, president of the Republican Sena, demanded a government job for one of the girl’s family members.

The state government has granted additional time to the committee appointed to audit 110 hostels in the state, sources in the higher education department said. Every joint director of higher and technical education had been asked to submit a report on the status of hostels within their jurisdiction, officials said, adding the committee would then hold a meeting and prepare their report within a week.