'I lost 5 years of my life'

After five years of being let down by the criminal justice system all that Gary Vaz 22 feels today is indifference In March 2007 Gary then a 17yearold boy was involved in a scuffle during a football match with a 15yearold boy name withheld and accidentally broke three of his teeth More than six months later the boyrsquos mother registered an FIR against Gary The police then arrested Gary and allegedly thrashed him Red card In 2008 during a football match Gary Vaz got involved in a scuffle with a 15yearold boy and accidentally broke three of his teeth The overzealous police at the insistence of the boyrsquos mother had then arrested and thrashed him PicShadab Khan Though his case was to be filed before the Juvenile Justice Board it ended up at the Magistratersquos court On November 26 the Dindoshi Sessions Court transferred his case to the board but itrsquos a case of too little too late ldquoI feel indifferent about it because the damage is already done Irsquove lost five years of my liferdquo said Gary The harrowing ordeal of his arrest and the prolonged trial that followed has scarred Garyrsquos memories of five crucial and formative years of his life even forcing him to seek psychiatric treatment He said ldquoLast year I tried to play football again for the first time but I was tackled and my heart started beating fast The whole incident flashed before my eyes I have stopped playing football nowrdquo Disillusioned Gary Vaz39s story was published in MiD DAY in January 2 2008u00a0PicShadab Khan Legal goofup In 2008 MiD DAY had reported how overzealous police had arrested Gary after the incident at the insistence of the boyrsquos mother Garyrsquos lawyer Wesley Menezes said ldquoThe police ought to have sent the case directly to the board The police always mess things up but Garyrsquos previous lawyers took their fees but never bothered to file a transfer application something that ought to have been done years ago While passing the order the judge said lawyers needed to be more diligentrdquo The court finally transferred Garyrsquos case last month due to the efforts of Menezes and advocate Sanjay Waghmare The incident On the evening of March 3 2007 Gary a resident of Amboli had gone with some friends to a neighbouring building to play football ldquoI was the goalkeeper and the boy was elbowing people while playing He ran towards me and elbowed me to score a goal We got into a scuffle When he wheeled around I accidentally punched him in the jaw breaking his teethrdquo A commotion ensued and the boyrsquos mother threatened to take action against Gary However a local resident intervened and settled the dispute ldquoIt was agreed that I would never step into their building premises again His mother made me promise He had made me out to be some sort of goonda and a bully I had my exams the next day and fared badly in them because I was traumatised by the whole incidentrdquo said Gary The boyrsquos teeth were fixed by one of his relatives a dentist lsquoTaunted beatenrsquo As the months passed Garyrsquos friends would continue playing in the neighbouring building but Gary refused to join them ldquoI was scared of his mother But many residents of the building my friendsrsquo parents even the managing committee repeatedly reassured me They said lsquoDonrsquot worry if anything happens we are there to take care of her You can come to playrsquordquo One day Gary finally mustered the courage to venture into the building to play at the insistence of his friends ldquoAt the time my parents were away and my sister and I were alone at home Two plainclothes policemen came to my house in the evening and said they wanted to help lsquosettlersquo the matter with the boyrsquos mother I was naive and happy that the matter would be settled and went along with them But as soon as we sat in a rickshaw they began abusing me and pulling my ears I couldnrsquot believe it and began crying In fact they were surprised and kept asking me whether I really was Gary Vaz because they thought I seemed too tender and soft to be a goonrdquo Gary added At the police station a police officer identified as Bodke repeatedly slapped Gary ldquoWhenever any other person would come to the police station the officer would call me a rapist and a womaniser I was terrified and didnrsquot even defend myself from his blows as I thought that would make it worse They had a strap with them which they threatened to whip me with It had the words meri baat suno written on it I thought I would be in jail for five or six yearsrdquo The cops booked Gary under Sections 504 intentional insult to provoke breach of peace 506 criminal intimidation and 325 voluntarily causing grievous hurt of the IPC He was 17 years and eight months old Though he was granted bail the next day the damage had been done Game over When the story was published in MiD DAY in January 2 2008 the then Senior PI NM Sampatwad took serious note of it and also reprimanded the investigating officer Gary is now pursuing a BSc degree after having completed his Std XII exams last year His father Robert said ldquoIt has been a complete nightmare I still cannot sleep at night The case has ruined my sonrsquos life I was told the police had been bribed into doing this He would sit at home for days and never went outrdquo The other side Referring to the scuffle ACP Sampatwad said ldquoSuch incidents happen quite often but I do not remember the case right now and I donrsquot have the papers with me so I cannot commentrdquou00a0