A Nallasopara cop tried to dissuade the girl from taking action against accused, warning her that the man had spent time in jail for murder and would come after her if she lodged the complaint
It took the Nallasopara police 36 hours to register a rape case involving a minor. What’s more, a police inspector at the station even tried to dissuade the girl from taking action against the accused, warning her that the man had spent time in jail for murder and would come after her if she lodged the complaint.
ADVERTISEMENT
Janardhan Kadam allegedly lured the girl to his house, spiked her soft drink with drugs, and raped her. Pics/Hanif Patel
The survivor is a 16-year-old college girl from Nallasopara, staying with her mother and younger sister. Her father is no more. The accused, Janardhan Kadam (58), a local real estate agent, approached her in July under the guise of enquiring about her family.
Sunila Bhise, founder of Sauli Pratishthan, the NGO which helped the survivor register the case
Having gained her confidence, he requested her to come to his house to help him read some documents since “he had grown old”. When the girl went there, Kadam allegedly mixed an intoxicant in her soft drink and raped her.
After the crime, he threatened to kill her if she spoke of the incident to anyone. The frightened girl agreed. After this, Kadam continued to take advantage of her fear and allegedly raped her several times since July.
Police apathy
The survivor somehow gathered the courage to speak about the incident with her 14-year-old sister. The younger sibling got in touch with a local NGO Sauli Pratishthan on Saturday, who decided to take up the case. On Sunday afternoon, the girl, along with NGO members, reached Nallasopara police station at 1.30 pm.
Sunila Bhise, founder of Sauli Pratishthan, said, “When we reached the police station, the male officer refused to register the complaint. He started interrogating the girl, and asked stupid questions like ‘have you had sex with any other boys’. He didn’t register the case.” Bhise said there was no female police officer to register the statement, as is required in such cases.
“While taking down the statement, the officer also threatened the girl to take back the case, saying the accused was a murderer and had spent 14 years in jail. He said that even if the accused was jailed in the rape case, he would kill her after his release,” Bhise added.
Bhise and the girl went to the police station again yesterday and approached the senior inspector and the case was finally registered in the evening. In the FIR, the survivor stated that Kadam is a drug addict and had spiked her cold drink. She alleged he had raped her many times, and had also threatened to kill her and her sister if she spoke about the incident.