Mumbai: Until last year, Mumbai's most famous road, Marine Drive, had a police post. But the police chowki, which became infamous for the rape of a 16-year-old college student on April 21,2005, is nowhere to to seen.
The accused was a constable who then manning the post. Police say the constable, Sunil More, was drunk when he called the girl inside the post and raped her. Her cries were heard by passersby who broke open the post and nearly destroyed it.
Constable More was suspended the same day and dismissed from the service three days later. The police chowky was shifted from the spot later, sensing the public anger.
According to the prosection, the victim and her boy friend were taken to the police chowky by the watchman of a nearby apartment as they were allegedly engaged in objectionable act.
A year after that outrageous incident, there is no police post to be seen. All that one gets to see is just a couple of concrete benches in open air, with the word 'police' scribbled on them.
Jamnadas, a resident of Marine Drive, has been reading the newspaper under the shade of the Marine Drive flyover for the past 20 years. Coming back here, after the incident was difficult for him.
"When I came here to read the paper after the incident, I felt very bad. If the protector does this, it is bad," says Jamnadas.
But now, with the verdict only a hours away, Mumbaikars are again clamoring for justice.
President, Marine Drive Residents' Association, Chandresh Shah, says, "We are sure that the constable will get the highest punishment. And he should get it."
Whether or not justice is delivered on Monday, the incident is a blemish that will haunt the police force and the city for a long, long time.
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