Mumbai: Woman with 22 cats evicted from stinking flat

Tania Mukherjee 28 a resident of Andheri lodged an FIR at Amboli Station on Tuesday night against her landlords and society manager for assault molestation and threatening According to Mukherjee ndash who had 22 pet cats at home ndash her belongings were removed in her absence on Tuesday and during the process 18 of her cats escaped from her house She has alleged that one of the cats fell from the fourth floor and diedTania Mukherjee outside the building PicsPrabhanjan DhanuA case has been registered under sections 326 Voluntarily causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or means 354 Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty 342 Punishment for wrongful confinement 506 Punishment for criminal intimidation and 34 Acts done by several people in furtherance of common intention at Amboli Police Station against Rekha Chavan landlord and the unidentified men and women who allegedly harassed her on Tuesday Mukherjee has also named Santosh Chavan Rekharsquos brother inlaw and society manager Satish Shirke in her statementOne of the frightened cats hiding near a pipe in the buildingldquoI was supposed to move out of the flat by August 16 but on Tuesday afternoon around 230 pm my landlords along with five other men and three women started threatening me to leave immediatelyrdquo Mukherjee said ldquoThey harassed me by taking away my cellphone and making me sit in the society office for four hours They even pushed and shoved merdquo After that Mukherjee went to look for another house but when she returned around 1130 pm all her furniture had been removed from the flat and kept outside ldquoI was not allowed to enter the house to check if any of the cats were left behind One of my cats fell from the fourth floor when they were removing my furniturerdquo she saidMukherjee then went to Amboli Police Station where she lodged an FIR against her landlords the unknown men and women who allegedly manhandled her as well as against the society manager Satish ShirkeHowever it was the sight of Mukherjeersquos apartment that shocked everyone including the cops The living room was covered in cat faeces and toilet water had accumulated on the kitchen floor Two of the bedrooms were covered in faeces as well and the stench emanating was so strong that all the people ndash police officers and residents alike ndash had to tie handkerchiefs around their faces Dead cockroaches were found inside the fridge and an insect infestation below Mukherjeersquos kitchen sinkThe flat was found covered in cat faecesLandlord speakldquoShe had exceeded her lease twice before and the smell coming from her house is unbearablerdquo said Babu Rao Chavan 75 one of Mukherjeersquos landlords Rekha Chavan the owner of Mukherjeersquos flat and Babu Raorsquos daughterinlaw said ldquoShe has not paid the electricity bill for the last two months and never keeps the flat clean Her rent for this month has not been paid eitherrdquoCop speakldquoOnly after thorough investigation will action be taken on the FIR lodgedrdquo said B S Gaikwadrdquo Senior Inspector Amboli Police StationNeighbour speakldquoShe Tania was not running an NGO or taking care of the catsrdquo said Ashok Pareek 55 Taniarsquos fourthfloor neighbour who has been living in Evershine for more than three years and is a committee member ldquoThe entire floor is stinking because she does not keep her house or the premises clean It is extremely unhygienicrdquo According to him when Mukherjeersquos stuff was being removed from the flat cat nails were found in her freezer ldquoMaybe she ate the cats herself or does some kind of black magic with themrdquo he saidManager speakldquoMukherjee was not to be seen in the building for two days and there was a strong stench coming from her flatrdquo said Satish Shirke society manager of Evershine Cosmic ldquoWhen we opened the door the cats ran away There was no food or water left for the cats while they were locked in Shersquos not an animal loverrdquo