Mumbai:
A 15-year old girl from Indira Nagar, Sewri was brutally assaulted, stripped in public and paraded by four women, in a brutal backlash to a feud with her mother last Friday. Unable to bear the trauma, Sneha, the Std IX student, attempted suicide and passed away at JJ hospital in the wee hours yesterday.
Cops have arrested one of the neighbours, while the other accused are on the run.
For the past few months, Sneha's mother Muthulaxmi had been involved in frequent quarrels with her neighbours in the Indira Nagar slums, over various issues.
On Friday morning, Sneha's father Anand Peraswami, who is a chauffeur with a private firm, left for work. Soon, Muthulaxmi locked heads with her neighbours in yet another scuffle, in course of which she was brutally thrashed by the accused. Fed up, she rushed to Sewri police station to register a complaint against them, leaving Sneha behind at home, as she was getting ready for school.
As the accused got wind of a complaint being registered against them, they entered Peraswami's house and began attacking the teenager. One of the men in the group, who has now been accused in the case, allegedly abused her physically.
"I was not at home but the neighbours have told me that that she was treated like an animal. The accused thrashed her and then dragged her out of the house, pulling her by the hair. They abused her throughout the attack. She was molested and they tore at her clothes and paraded her in the colony. I need justice," said Peraswami, recalling the incident.
The attack left the girl so traumatised that she immediately rushed back home and consumed poison. She even poured kerosene over herself and set herself ablaze. Neighbours who had witnessed the attack rushed her to J J Hospital, where she passed away at the ICU ward yesterday.
Peraswami said, "This should not have been done to a small girl. She should have not been pushed into this. In the hospital, she told me that her attackers had done a terrible wrong, and said that they should not go unpunished."
Local activist Dayal Bahadure, who has taken up the case, said, "We will fight till the end. The way this girl was stripped and paraded is highly unacceptable, especially in a city that is considered safe. We want the police to take necessary action, as there is a clear case of negligence by them."
A complaint under Section 306 was only registered against the accused yesterday, after the girl succumbed to her suicide attempt. ACP Dilip Waghmare said, "We have arrested one of the women and registered a case against the other accused in the case under Section 306 of the IPC for abetment to suicide. We will nab the other accused soon." He did not respond when asked about possible police negligence in the sensitive case.