Exclusive: Mumbai toddler rape case takes a new turn thanks to police apathy

A police team visited the trustees residence in the La Feliz building in Malad West but returned emptyhanded PicsNimesh DaveThe Andheri school trustee accused of sexually assaulting a threeyearold is now on the run thanks to the delayed action of the police on a Bombay High Court order On April 2 HC rejected the French nationals bail application and asked cops to immediately arrest him But cops sent a team to his Malad residence only on Thursday because they were waiting for the judgement copy In the meantime the trustee managed to flee and cops came back emptyhandedThe building in Malad West where the accused resides PicNimesh DaveThe complainants advocate Vijay Hiremath told midday HC had quashed the accuseds bail order and asked him to surrender before the concerned authority at once but the police did not act promptly to arrest him Advocate SS Sawalkar said Ideally the cops were supposed to take him into custody as soon as his bail got rejected He shouldnt have walked free for all these days as the crime is sensitive in natureJustifying their action ACP of Sakinaka division Milind Khetle said they were waiting for the judgement copy They received the copy yesterday and hence dispatched a team to arrest the accused only then Previously the trustee had been arrested on November 7 2017 but released on bail a fortnight laterLooking at other placesMeanwhile police sources said they have formed a special team to arrest the trustee While they didnt find him on Thursday they will now look at other places where he could possibly be When team midday reached the building in Malad West where the accused resides it learnt from the neighbours and the watchman that the accuseds house has been locked for the past three days After the court order cops had also visited the house two days ago to check on him but left immediately upon seeing it lockedNo time to surrenderHC had cancelled the trustees bail on April 2 in the case where has been booked for aggravated sexual assault of a threeyearold kindergarten student in his Andheri school The French national was to immediately turn himself in before the appropriate authority as HC justice Revati MohiteDere also rejected his lawyers request asking for some time to surrenderDismissing the request MohiteDere had said Once I come to the conclusion that the order granting bail is perverse there is no question of granting time to surrender The accuseds lawyer then asked for time to appeal for bail in the Supreme Court but HC rejected that tooSufficient evidenceHC was acting on a plea filed by the toddlers mother and struck down a November 24 2017 order by a special POCSO court that had granted bail to the accused It had done so on the grounds that the observations made by the special court were contrary to case recordsThe special court had given bail to the trustee saying there was no incriminating evidence against him and that he was neither named by the complainant in the FIR nor in her statement recorded by a magistrate HC however found this observation contrary to record and said Prima facie there is sufficient evidence pointing towards complicity of Respondent No 1 the accusedMohiteDere noted that the child had indeed identified the trustee as the perpetrator of the crime through a photograph and that all statements recorded by police were consistent with the complicity of Respondent No 1 Though the incident allegedly occurred in late 2016 it came to light in May 2017 after the childs parents noticed changes in her behaviour and found she had difficulty in sitting and walking When they asked her if anyone had hurt her or touched her inappropriately she answered in the affirmative and identified the photograph of the foundertrustee as the boy teacher who hurt her the childs mother had said in her complaintHearing expeditedHC further expedited the hearing of this case and asked the sessions judge to decide on the case in any event within four months from the date of receipt of the HC order midday has learned from a court source that on the day of hearing the alleged accused did not come for hearing However his wife advocate and a bunch of teachers from the school were presentAlso ReadMumbai toddler rape case Accomplice who helped Andheri school trustee heldCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates