Pressure for justice mounts

There is no mention of sexual harassment, or eve teasing, in the first information report (FIR) filed in the case concerning the murder of Keenan Sentos and Reuben Fernandes.

There is no mention of sexual harassment, or eve teasing, in the first information report (FIR) filed in the case concerning the murder of Keenan Sentos and Reuben Fernandes.

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The FIR was lodged by their friend Avinash Solanki, who was part of the group of seven that was attacked by a mob

with choppers, and sticks in Andheri West on the night of October 20.

Though reports claim that the incident was triggered by Jitendra Rana, a bystander who sexually harassed women in the group, the police claim that it was verbal feud that escalated beyond control.

Solanki, however, maintained that Rana's lewd comments were to blame.

“We all were scared. The women in the group were scared and hence it did not even cross my mind to explain the entire incident to the police. But fact is that the lewd comments passed at the women in our group irked us, and we

decided to confront the men,” he said.

The police, though, claim that Rana was staring at the group, which prompted Keenan and friends to confront him.

Rana reportedly said, ‘Ladki saath main hai toh hero banta hai’ (Are you acting smart because there are women around?).

“There is no mention of eve-teasing in the FIR, and we will go by the FIR,” said Vijay Bhoite, senior police inspector with the DN Nagar police station.

The police, however, said that they would record statements of all persons present to verify the claims about sexual harassment.