COPS LOOK OUT FOR THREE MEN WHO ASSAULTED MAWANI WOMAN

The Malwani police are looking for three suspects, who barged into the house of a 45-yearold woman, molested and assaulted her and her family members in Malwani. The incident occurred on the day the BMC election results were declared.

According to the police, a group of Congress supporters were celebrating their candidate’s win in Malwani and were bursting firecrackers in the lanes. Three to four of them started bursting crackers outside the victim’s house too. The complainant, Zulekha Sarfraz Ali, along with her sister, brother in law and their children, was in the house on plot number 20 in New Collector colony, when a burning cracker came inside the house. She walked out of the house and objected to the bursting of crackers. In no mood to listen, the accused increased the frequency of the crackers,” said an officer.

An argument ensued between the complainant and the accused that later converted into heated arguments. One of the accused then pushed the complainant and her brother-in-law. When they retaliated, other members gathered and barged into the complainant’s house. They assaulted and molested her. When other family members inside the house tried to interfere, they were also assaulted by the accused, added the officer.

The victim’s neighbours then called the police station and as the cops arrived, the accused fled from the spot. The victim then approached the Malwani police and a case was registered against the three.

Inspector Ramesh Nangre from Malwani police station confirmed that an FIR had been lodged against three accused under the charges of trespassing, molestation, assault and criminal intimidation. The accused have been identified and police have trying to trace them, added another officer.

A year ago, a street in Thane woke up to the screams of a 22-year-old woman, Subiya, “Bachao…bhaiyya ne sabko maar dala.”

The incident was unprecedented. Hasnain Warekar, 32, who worked as a clerk for a chartered accountant, had slaughtered 14 of his family -parents, wife, two daughters, three of his four sisters, four of his nephews and two of his nieces -- slitting their throats while they slept at their home at Kasarwadavali on Ghodbunder Road. He then hanged himself.

A year on, the only survivor of the brutality, Subiya, who lives in Bhiwandi, stays away from the house, just like people from the neighbourhood. For Subiya and everyone around, the bungalow, which housed the Warekars for more than 20 years, is a sad reminder of the horrific massacre.

“We are scared to walk on the road in front of the bungalow. We only go if we are in a group,” said a neighbor.

The family, too, has abandoned the house. “We are planning to give half the bungalow to a madrasa as part of the cleansing process for those who were killed on February 28, 2016,” said Mujib Warekar, 47, a businessman and Hasnain’s cousin, adding the worth of the house is Rs50 lakh.

“We open the house once a week to clean it. We are also waiting for police to complete the paper work. We will then take Subiya’s consent,” he said.

Hasnain’s grandfather Gulzar, 72, said, “A family from Uttar Pradesh is willing to stay on rent in the house.”

Hasnain’s relatives and neighbours are yet to understand what drove him to inviting his sisters and their families for a get-together, treating them to vegetarian and non-vegetarian delicacies, spiking their drinks and slashing their throats with a cleaver.

“Hasnain’s grandmother still can’t believe he committed the crime. She wants to know how the murder took place,” said Hasnain’s uncle Rizwan, 45.

The police said they have completed all formalities.

“We have filed a charge sheet and the case is closed. If anyone in the family wants to go through the reports or any other documents, they should move court,” said an officer.