Once again the city police are in the dock. This time for not only cold shouldering a 15-year-old rape victim but thrashing her brother who was asking them to file FIR.

 

What may be termed as a gross negligence on part of city cops, it took 10 days for the hapless family of a rape victim to coax the Goregaon police into filing an FIR – all because the accused turned out to be a valuable police informer.

 

The victim’s family said, the Goregaon police not only disregarded their complaints, but thrashed the victim’s brother when they chased the matter and insisted on lodging a FIR.

 

With the intervention of an NGO the police sprang into action and the 30-year-old man, who also happens to be the victim’s brother-in-law, was booked by the Goregaon police.

 

The accused had allegedly warned the rape survivor that he would abandon and slay her sister – his wife – if she refused to enter into a physical relationship with him. This poses serious questions about the credibility of the city police whose Commissioner Rakesh Maria never tires of claiming that the safety of women would not be compromised, under any circumstances.

 

The accused raped the victim on two different occasions – the first time inside her room, when no one was around. The second time, he forced himself on her in his shanty, just a few furlong away from her room.

 

“We went to the police station twice to file an FIR, but the police did not help us. On our third visit, they registered an NC. Finally we approached an NGO, which helped us file an FIR,” the victim said.