Rape-murder of student in Mumbai: NCP delegation meets DGP, demands security at women's hostels

Mumbai: The Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Thursday demanded that female police officials regularly visit women’s hostels across Maharashtra to ensure that security measures are in place on those premises.

An NCP delegation submitted a memorandum with demands over women’s safety to Director General of Police (DGP) Rajnish Seth, a day after the rape and murder of an 18-year-old girl in a Mumbai hostel came to light.

According to the police, a laundry man who worked as a security guard raped and strangled the girl to death inside her room on the fourth floor of the hostel in South Mumbai. Later, the guard died by coming in front of a local train.

After submitting the memorandum, NCP spokesperson Mahesh Tapase said if such a shocking crime can be committed in a city like Mumbai, it is unimaginable what the situation might be in rural Maharashtra with regard to women’s safety.

He said female police officials must regularly visit government, semi-government and private women’s hostels to review security measures and gather “confidential” information about the male staff on the premises as well as “road Romeos” in the area.

The victim’s father and one of her friends have told the police that the guard, who hailed from Uttar Pradesh, used to harass her. The girl’s father has also blamed the hostel administration for not taking proper measures, an official said on Wednesday.

The hostel inmates and the male employees there should also be counselled regularly over security issues, Tapase said, stressing that detailed information about the staffers “who belong to other states” must be compiled.

Similarly, the Shakti Act brought by the Maha Vikas Aghadi government should be implemented and its provisions be made known to all stakeholders, he said.

The Shakti Act aims at curbing heinous crimes against women and children in Maharashtra and it has provisions for strict punishment, including the death penalty, life sentence, and heavy fines apart from speedy trials.

The Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra Assembly Ajit Pawar, who also belongs to the NCP, on Wednesday visited the Marine Drive police station where the case is registered and consoled the girl's family members.