“Why are you reporting so much on this rape case? You are behaving as if you have been raped,” said Waman Mhatre, the former Mayor of Badlapur, to Mohini Jadhav, a journalist with the Marathi daily Sakal. Mhatre accosted her while she was on her way to cover protests over the alleged sexual abuse of two minors in a local school.
Badlapur, a city in Thane district of Maharashtra, has been in the eye of a storm after news broke out of the molestation of two nursery students on Aug 12. Police reportedly delayed registering a first information report (FIR) and arrested the alleged accused and temporary sweeper Akshay Shinde, on Aug 21. Public protests over the incident spilled onto the streets, shutting down rail services and a call for a bandh by political parties was halted after the Bombay High Court order prohibiting a general strike.
Jadhav, who is still to get over her shock at the aggressive and threatening behaviour of the former Mayor. Incensed over the media coverage and the protests, Mhatre who is also a close associate of the Shrikanth Shinde, son of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, confronted Jadhav and her cameraperson Tanmay Tambe and abused the former in full view of police and the public.
“I was very shocked and rattled but this wasn’t the end of my ordeal. This incident happened at around 12.45p.m. on Aug 20. I was very alarmed but I decided to file a complaint against Mhatre. I went to the police station at around 2 p.m to lodge an FIR against Mhatre but there, the police would simply not take my complaint. They kept trying to dissuade me from filing it and trying to convince me to talk to Mhatre and resolve things.”
But Jadhav, despite knowing how powerful Mhatre was in the area, persisted with her decision to lodge a complaint. Finally, an FIR was lodged only at around 6p.m. the next day!
The FIR was lodged under sections 74 and 79 of the new Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) , pertaining to criminal assault against a woman and under section Sec 3 (1) (w) (ii) and 3 (2) (va) of the Prevention of Atrocities Act, pertaining to using words or gestures of a sexual nature towards a member of a Scheduled Caste or Tribe and the punishment of seven years or more.
(Sec 74, BNS: 74. Whoever assaults or uses criminal force to any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty, shall be punished with imprisonment of either description for a term which shall not be less than one year but which may extend to five years, and shall also be liable to fine.
Sec 79, BNS : 79. Whoever, intending to insult the modesty of any woman, utters any words, makes any sound or gesture, or exhibits any object in any form, intending that such word or sound shall be heard, or that such gesture or object shall be seen, by such woman, or intrudes upon the privacy of such woman, shall be punished with simple imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and also with fine).
As per the FIR, Mhatre at first contested her reports of the alleged rape and said the girls were only molested. Then, he said, journalists like her should be arrested.
Mhatre is yet to be arrested and has applied for anticipatory bail in the sessions court and before the Bombay High Court. On Aug 28, Justice Sandeep Marne of the Bombay High Court directed the Kalyan
sessions court to decide on his anticipatory bail application by August 29 and Thane police said no coercive action would be taken against Mhatre till then.
Based in Badlapur,Jadhav, has been a reporter with Sakal newspaper for the last tthree years and has been covering the incident from Day One. She is aware that the police are under pressure from the political parties. “It was only because I was insistent that Senior Police Inspector Kiran Balwadkar finally registered the FIR. I need to fight against this kind of open intimidation and threats and I am very glad I have the support of my newspaper and my colleagues,” Jadhav said.
