The father of the minor, who was allegedly sexually assaulted in Bandra’s posh Otters Club, has filed a protest petition before the sessions court highlighting how the police failed to probe the role of wanted accused – members of the Club’s managing committee (MC) and disciplinary committee (DC) – and name them in the supplementary chargesheet.
In September last year, the father claimed that his son was sexually assaulted by a kitchen employee . Despite him bringing the same to the notice of the Club, the MC failed to take any action against the accused. Moreover, the police swung into action and arrested the accused employee only after the father moved the Bombay high court.
The police filed a supplementary chargesheet after further investigation, but failed to name the wanted accused. Hence the father has filed a protest petition, through advocate Faiz Merchant, before the session court which is seized with the matter.
The father said he had specifically disclosed the role of the members of the MC in the crime and had requested the DCP concerned to include charges against the managing committee members, while filing the supplementary chargesheet.
Initially, the chargesheet was filed only against the arrested accused, the kitchen employee. Police sought leave to file supplementary chargesheet against the wanted co-accused.
Petitioner had also written a letter to the DCP asking to issue LOC against the wanted accused apprehending them “leaving the country thereby causing hindrance and jeopardizing the further investigation”. The father even addressed a letter to the IO through his advocate highlighting the manner in which the “investigating officer was shielding the wanted co-accused persons and the office of the then DCP Zone IX not supervising the investigation in stark contradiction to the direction of the Hon’ble High Court”. Despite this, the police filed a supplementary chargesheet thereby “dropping” the name of all the wanted co-accused persons from the case at hand, the protest petition alleged.
This has been done in the “most malicious manner” despite having placed on record electronic as well as other independent evidence in the form of statement disclosing the involvement of the other wanted co-accused persons and the respective acts of omission and commission on the strength of which an inference can be drawn of the existence of a reasonable belief that the said wanted accused have committed offences punishable under POCSO, the plea added.
“The investigating agency in sheer malice have disregarded the fact that the offence had taken place within the premises of Otters Club thereby making the Managing Committee equally responsible and culpable for the crime. It is also submitted that, the discipline which lies in the hands of the Disciplinary Committee of Otters Club have also protected the accused and are therefore complicit in the crime at hand,” the petition read.
The protest petition prays that the officers of Bandra Police Station be directed to conduct further investigation in the interest of justice and they specifically be asked to investigate the role of the wanted co-accused persons and file a chargesheet against him for commission of offences punishable under POCSO Act.
The father had earlier filed a petition before the Bombay High Court alleging that he was “arm-twisted and threatened by the President, Disciplinary Committee and the Managing Committee, to not report the issue under the pretext of referring the matter to the POSH Committee.” The club’s disciplinary committee held an internal inquiry and gave a clean chit to the staffer instead of immediately reporting the incident to the police.
It was Only after the petition before the HC, the police arrested the kitchen employee on February 21. At the time, prosecution had informed the court that they will conduct the probe in a fair manner and hence, he didn’t press the petition before the HC.
The case details
On September 29, 2023, the complainant father along with his friends and seven-year-old son went to Otters Club. The father, who’s been a member of the club’s member since 20 years, said as his son wanted some French Fries, he asked him to go to the kitchen for the same.However, the kid came down crying after a while and disclosed that he was sexually assaulted by an employee in the kitchen.
The father confronted the accused and the manager of the catering services. The accused was immediately asked to leave while the president of the club assured that they would act hence on their word, the father claimed that he did not report the incident to police immediately. A report by DC claimed that the accused had only touched his stomach and claimed that the allegations were false.
Realising the inaction by the club, the father lodged an FIR only on December 18 against the kitchen employee. The accused was arrested from UP and brought him to Mumbai in January. However, the father claimed, police instead of arresting the accused allowed him to go. He was arrested only after the police were informed about the petition filed by the father.
