Police sends Manipuri woman to jail for hitting back at her assaulters

A mere two months after a Manipuri woman was assaulted in Kalina, Santacruz, another Manipuri woman from the same locality was attacked on Sunday. Adding salt to the wounds, the police arrested the victim for hitting back at her assailants instead of the assaulters.

The 25-year-old hotel employee was heading home after a birthday party along with her friend Niggreen Jermick at around 1:30 am when three men began passing lewd comments and hurling racial slurs at her. When Jermick asked them to back off, they pounced on him.

The woman came to her friend’s rescue but ended up getting assaulted and molested. She managed to escape from her assaulters and returned to the birthday party to seek help.

She came back with three of her friends- Yangmi Shibre, David Marza and Aapan Shimre- and a minor brawl ensued, following which the victim managed to elude the scene with Jermick. However, the three attackers found them, accosted and assaulted the duo again. It was then that the police was called.

When the police arrived, they took the victim, Jermick, her three friends as well as two of the assailants identified as Sudarshan Gaikwad and Deepak Gandhelaa into custody. The third assaulter managed to flee the scene.

The Vakola police filed a case based on Jermick’s complaint, and an FIR was filed against Gaikwad, Gandhelaa and their aide under sections 452 (house-trespass after preparation for hurt, assault or wrongful restraint), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 506 (criminal intimidation), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC.

In addition to the assailants, the cops also booked the Manipuri woman and her friends under Section 323.

While the victim is currently in Byculla jail, police is on the hunt for the third attacker. When asked what the woman should have done instead to fighting in self-defence, the police refused to comment.