Mumbai:
A 19-year-old girl from Mumbai has made serious allegations against Assistant Commissioner of Police Vasant Dhoble, who is currently the face of moral policing in Mumbai. "Despite not being a prostitute, you are labelled as one. It's all because of Vasant Dhoble", said the teenager claiming her life has been ruined.
The girl said she was with her friends in a pub in suburban Mumbai in April this year, when Mr Dhoble and his team raided it. She has alleged that she was picked up along with 16 other girls and wrongly labelled as a prostitute. Booked under the Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act, she spent 21 days at a remand home. But her troubles only increased once she came out. "My family has thrown me out of the house. They say I have spoilt their name and I can't enter the house", said the victim.
Hockey-stick wielding Dhoble is already facing flak for curbing Mumbai's nightlife by enforcing outdated laws. Two sisters who were recently picked up by Mr Dhoble's team on similar charges, have urged the Bombay High Court to release them and have also sought a compensation of Rs 1 crore for defamation and wrongful detention.
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra Government has gone into damage control mode after the outrage over the moral policing issue. Minister of State (Home) Satej Patil said, "We need to relook into all these issues in the whole of Maharashtra, so people don't suffer".