‘Desperate’ accused knew student was heading home: Cops

The accused who allegedly sexually assaulted and killed the 18-year-old student at the Marine Drive hostel was obsessed with her, the police have said. The accused Omprakash Kanojiya often tried to strike up a conversation with her and when she refused, he would taunt her in front of other girls, the police probe has revealed. The statements of her friends and call details of the accused and victim have revealed he would call her over frivolous reasons to try to have a conversation.

According to the victim's friend, Kanojiya had barged into the victim's room at the Savitridevi Phule Mahila Chaatralay few days back and tried to molest her, but she didn't tell her family this. Her family claimed her body from JJ Hospital on Thursday evening and performed the last rites at Shivaji Park crematorium. Her father, who is not satisfied with the police probe, has sought a CBI inquiry into the case.

The Marine Drive police are taking statements of the other students living in the hostel. Cops have also accessed the call details of the victim and accused, which revealed they were in touch with each other. There were some calls which went on for several minutes. "The probe till now has revealed that the accused was desperately trying to get close to the girl. He used to call and try to talk to her," said a police officer. "According to the statement of one of her friends, the accused had barged into her room few days ago and tried to molest her but she fought him off, " the officer added.

Omprakash Kanojiya had gained the confidence of the victim's father and assured that he would take care of his daughter at the hostel. Pic/Sameer Markande

The call details accessed by the cops revealed Kanojiya was in touch with most of the girls but not a single call lasted for more than one minute. The accused had gained the confidence of the victim's father and assured that he would take care of his daughter at the hostel. On this pretext, he would always call her and ask whether she needed anything and would barge into her room. "The probe till now has shown that there clearly were attempts by the accused to speak to her. He would also touch her whenever possible. All this indicates desperation on his part. The accused knew she would be going after couple of days to her hometown and hence decided to take advantage of her when she was fast asleep," said another police officer.

Unhappy with the police probe, the father of the victim has requested a CBI inquiry into the case. Talking to mid-day he said, "Since day one there are disparities in the probe. We want a CBI probe. We were not shown the body of the accused, the police just claimed it's the same person. I know the accused; if I see the body I will be satisfied that it's the same person. Also, our demand is for the warden of the hostel whom my daughter had informed about the harassment by the accused, to be booked as she didn't pay heed to her. Also, how could she allow a man in the hostel when parents of residents were also not allowed to enter? If the warden had taken some steps this wouldn't have happened."

Family claims body

On Thursday evening, the victim's family claimed her body from JJ Hospital. Earlier they had taken the stance of demanding the arrest of the warden for negligence before claiming it, but on Wednesday they decided to claim it. The last rites were performed at Shivaji Park crematorium.