She stood by the victim like a rock

Sushma Chavan of the CID and her team put in efforts for three years to bring sex scandal accused to justice

For the first time district and session court convicted the 20 accused in a sex scandal in 2006 to life terms. The minor who was repeatedly sexually exploited told MiD DAY that her long wait for justice was only possible owing to the constant support of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) who took special efforts to bring all those who exploited her to justice.u00a0


u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0u00a0Solid support: Police Inspector Sushma Chavan

The minor who now aspires to join the police force has expressed her gratitude towards the CID team that caught 15 of the accused who were absconding.The woman, while speaking to MID DAY, especially mentioned Investigative Officer PI Sushma Chavan for all her support and said: "She stood by me throughout the trial not only as a police officer but as a mother. The case was highlighted because many of the accused had influential background and political links."

The case went on for three years and saw many up and downs. Attempts were also made to bribe the girl so she would drop the names of few of the accused. The accused also tried to kidnap the girl from her remand homes twice.

Chavan said the case was a challenge but the team could do it because of constant support and guidance from seniors Shobha Ohatkar and Addnl DIG Jayant Umranikar.

Chavan said: "Tracing all the culprits on the basis of the statements given by the minor was a task, as many times she could give only the names or nicknames of the suspects or their designation.We still managed to arrest them."

Additional IG (Prison) Shobha Ohotkar was selected as supervising officer in 2005. Ohatkar, who was then working as SP, Economic Offenses at CID, said: "The CID team worked systematically right from recording statements to coordinating with all the officers involved in the case. Thus we could bring the case to its logical conclusion."

She said the team of officers namely Pushpa Deshmukh, DYSP Rekha Salunkhe DYSP Prakash Pranjape, DYSP Avinash Mokashi, PI Sushma Chavan and PI Anuja Dehmane worked day and night to bring the case to its logical end.