Rape-murder in south Mumbai hostel: ‘We were discouraged from complaining’

Savitridevi Phule Mahila Chaatralaya in Charni Road is preferred by college girls due to its location and affordable rates. Pic/Sameer Markande

Around 90 women from across the country came together to join in on an online call set up by a support group, to deal with the horrors they faced at the Savitridevi Phule Mahila Chhatralaya, the hostel at Charni Road where a 19-year-old girl was allegedly raped and murdered on Tuesday. For many of them, the shared trauma stems from the fact that they knew the perpetrator because he had targeted them as well.

The police are currently conducting inquiries against Omprakash Kanojia alias Prakash, a laundry man at the hostel, who was also an unofficial security guard. The police believe he entered the victim's room by unlocking the inside bolt through a vent above the door, forced himself on her and strangled her with her clothes. His body was found on the railway tracks and he is believed to have died by suicide 15 minutes after fleeing the hostel.

Late on Thursday night, the women got together on a video call hosted by ex-hostel residents, including Bhagayshri Sonawane 26, a lawyer, to talk about their shared trauma. Sonawane herself had stayed at the hostel from 2015 to 2020, when she was pursuing her law degree at the Government Law College in Churchgate.

A still stunned Sonawane told mid-day, "There were so many shocking revelations that came out during the video call. Many women narrated accounts of how Prakash would hone in on one timid, shy girl and harass her all throughout her stay in the hostel. He would ask personal questions like who she was dating, and how she travelled to and from her college. As I heard these stories, I realised that Prakash had become more confident after I left. The watchmen at the hostel, including him, were told to watch us and report to the warden. They would tell the warden what we were wearing and we would be pulled up if they deemed our attire inappropriate."

She added that when some of the residents complained about the watchmen, they were told that the watchmen were acting with the administration's backing, and discouraged from complaining. "Women as young as 18 and 19 years old were shamed, and watchmen were given complete access to the floors where we lived. Nothing was done about our complaints. Worse, those who complained were personally targeted by the hostel authorities till they gave up," said Sonawane.

The practising lawyer went on to recall her own experience with Kanojia, when she first went to the hostel to seek admission. "I had a local guardian in Mumbai and he would come to give me medicines etc. Prakash would ask me who he is and why he was helping me. I found it very odd," she said. Sonawane revealed that during the support group's call, some of the girls showed screenshots of Prakash video calling them in the middle of the night. "The girls said that they thought he had dialled them by mistake," Sonawane said.

She added that many of the girls had to stay back at the hostel despite Kanojia's predatory behaviour because it is extremely affordable for families who cannot find accommodation for their daughters in apartments. Sonawane, who hails from Dhule, said that many of the residents come from modest backgrounds and moved to Mumbai for quality education, which is concentrated in colleges located in South Mumbai.

90
Number of girls who have formed the support group