Mumbai: Botched-up once, will do again

The Manikpur police who are already facing a departmental inquiry for negligence in a missing person complaint related to nowdeceased Shraddha Walkar have been accused of taking a womanrsquos complaints of physical and sexual assault against her livein partner lightlyThe 26yearold woman told midday she moved in with Steve Pinto 24 around threeandahalfyear ago at her familyrsquos property in Vasai as her parents were not against them living together They met at work around four years ago she addedIt began with body shamingThe woman said the abuse started with Pinto body shaming her and comparing her to his exgirlfriend ldquoAlthough this shook my confidence I continued to live with him as I loved him However things turned violent a year back when he started physically and sexually assaulting me He would forcefully perform unnatural sexrdquo she allegedAlso Read Mumbai In court brother seeks fresh investigation by SITSteve Pinto PicsHanif PatelldquoJust a day after the Shraddha Walkar case appeared in the news he kicked me in the chest and I fainted He helped me regain consciousness but the pain from the assault lasted for daysrdquo she saidldquoFor the past few months I had been taking care of all the expenses at home as Pinto had several loans to repay He had bought a car and other expensive items But I loved him so I didnrsquot care about my savingsrdquo she saidAllegations against copsIt was on March 18 that she decided to put an end to the abuse after he twisted her wrist A week later on March 25 she first approached Kashimira police station in Mira Road ldquoHowever the police refused to take the complaint and asked me to go to Vasai as the offence took place hererdquo she saidldquoOn March 26 I went to Manikpur police station in Vasai but the cops told me to come the next day as the senior inspector was not present The senior inspector was there even on March 27 I was told he had gone to court I waited for a few hours but no one helped merdquo she addedldquoThe police finally listened to me on March 28 but a female cop was not assigned to record my statement It was difficult for me to explain everything to a male cop Simultaneously they called Steve to the police stationldquoHe arrived with his relatives and lawyers who tried to dissuade me from filing a complaint They told me that counselling would resolve any issues between us But I was done being exploited sexually mentally financially and physically for 35 yearsrdquo she addedSent back with NCldquoI asked the police to file an FIR but the officer filed a noncognisable NC offencerdquo she said Her friend Sahil Singh Chandel said that the woman has slipped into depression because of the assault and abuse over the yearsmiddayrsquos calls and messages sent to Pinto went unansweredAn officer at Manikpur police station said ldquoThey had been in a livein relationship for the past 35 years Pinto claimed that their relationship turned sour a few months back and that they decided to end itldquoAccording to the Supreme Court guidelines we cannot register a rape case Also there were no visible injury marks on her body We have registered an NC as the woman alleged that she was assaultedrdquo he addedThe officer said they will take legal advice on whether an FIR can be filed in this caseA bench of Supreme Court Justices Hemant Gupta and Vikram Nath in July 2022 held that a woman who was in a relationship with a man and was willingly staying with him cannot file a case of rape after the relationship had gone sour The court made the observation while hearing a related pleaThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever