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Nashik rape probe:Shelter home director threatened survivors with ‘consequences’
According to the police, the director of the Nashik-based shelter home, Harshal More, sexually exploited the survivors inside a tin sheet structure
Investigation into the rape of a 19-year-old girl and five other minor girls at the shelter home in Nashik has revealed that the accused threatened the survivors with ‘dire consequences’ if they told anyone about his sordid acts.
According to the police, the director of the Nashik-based shelter home, Harshal More, sexually exploited the survivors inside a tin sheet structure with a door located on the ground floor of the row house. “The accused threatened the minors that he would expel them from the hostel if they spoke to anyone. Most of the girls hailed from impoverished backgrounds and hence, remained silent for days out of fear of being expelled. They mustered the courage only after the first FIR was lodged,” said deputy commissioner of police (DCP) zone 1, Kirankumar Chavan.
On November 23, days after the incident occurred, the first victim narrated her ordeal to relative who was visiting her after which the police complaint was lodged. Following the police complaint and subsequent arrest of More, the other girls who had been sexually abused as well, mustered the courage to lodge similar complaints when the police engaged a counsellor to take them into confidence.
The police are also probing if the accused took the survivors to another location. Nasik police commissioner Jayant Naiknaware said, “We have also begun a probe into a fresh angle involving the accused allegedly taking the victims to another location. We have ordered a probe after getting to know that More took one of the survivors to another location.”
The commissioner further said that More had developed contacts with donors at his previous workplace and they would fund his social work projects. “He took money from them to run the day-to-day expenses of the shelter home. His expenses were around ₹25,000 per month. Since it is not an economic crime, the question of probing them does not arise,” said Naiknaware.
DCP Chavan said, “More used to accept donations in cash and seek money from various persons citing social causes. People contributed as they did not know his background. The police have not looked into the details about how much he got and from whom. The current focus is on providing justice to the minors and extracting the maximum information from the accused.”
More is under custodial interrogation of the Nashik police and will be produced in court once his custody expires on Wednesday. Whereas the survivors are currently housed in a setup belonging to the tribal department. “We have given a letter to the tribal commissionerate regarding housing of the victims. Currently, they are kept in their government hospital. They are the right persons to comment further regarding the stay of the minors. However, all necessary steps have been taken by the police to ensure that they get relief and justice,” said DCP Chavan.
According to Child Welfare committee Nashik district chairperson, advocate Milind Babar, “Further investigation must be carried out. Whatever has been written in the FIR must be probed in detail. The police must talk to the other girls in the hostel so that more minors come forward if they have been wronged.” Another activist on condition of anonymity said that different angles related to whether other persons besides the main accused were involved in the acts must also be taken up.
The state government has also initiated a probe into the incident after state women and child development minister ordered a detailed probe into the incident and directed the WCD commissioner to submit a report to the government within seven days.
Babar further said that the police and the Woman and Child Welfare department (WCD) need to visit all shelter homes across Nashik to take all the girls living in these shelters into confidence. “What is most important is that shelter homes are being registered without verification which is very dangerous. The control should be on behalf of the police department. The district WCD must look into this issue. The police and WCD must actively look into these illegal registrations failing which child exploitation will continue,” Babar said.
