Celebrating Durga Puja on the move

Season ticket passengers of Panchvati Express form a mandal, install an idol in train to be able to celebrate the festival p7
Mumbai, October 9, 2010

Maximum City
mitment to work, but what if someone discovers my past and tries to humiliate me, she says. Its a genuine concern and the Rescue Foundation is aware of it. Many are working with some renowned hospitals, in malls and petrol pumps. But none want their real identity to be revealed. Often employers are unaware they are rescued sex workers. Its an understanding we have with placement agencies, says Triveni Acharya, the president of the foundation. The Veera Project has set a target to get 500 ready by 2012. The job, of course, brings in money but , for Sudarshana, Meenaxi and many other sex workers rescued from Pune and Thane, its much more than money Its an opportu. nity to resurrect their dignity .

SHORT STORIES

Life lost and found: From sex workers to cabbies

Sunchika Pandey
Ive been through a lot and now I hope my life takes a turn for the good, says Sudarshana, as she looks up at the sky and thanks somebody up there. Just 22 and already scalded by nasty experiences in the citys dark alleys, this former commercial sex worker has a lot to thank for indeed. Shifted out of flesh trade by the Rescue Foundation, she will soon be beginning life afresh. She is training to be a cab driver. Driving gives me a sense of control. Its like Im controlling my life and giving it direction with the steering wheel, she says. The past still haunts her though. She landed in Mumbai from Karnataka in February 2005 looking for a job. She considered herself fortunate when she landed one faster than she had expected. The horror unfolded soon. I was in shock when I realised that I had been trapped into joining the flesh trade, she recounts and adds, I lived that horror for four long months. It seemed like life had come to a dead end. She was lucky, unlike a thousand others like her forced into the trade. A smile crosses her face when she remembers being rescued from Ghatkopar in May 2005. May 17, she mentions the date with absolute clarity . Now, she looks at the future with a lot of hope. Sudarshana is one of the three rescued sex workers training as woman taxi drivers under a programme called Veera Sanskrit for courageous woman initiated by the Lions Club. The programme is meant to benefit women from the marginalised sections of the society Ac. cording to Lions Club office-bearers, the three-month training will equip the women not only with driving skills and knowledge of traffic rules but also teach them etiquette and self-defence techniques like martial arts. We are taking precautions to protect the woman drivers. There will be a screen separating the driver from the passengers. There is an emergency alarm system in the cars, said an office-bearer. Sudarshana has no issues with being identified, but Meenaxi, another rescued woman, is worried. I am willing to bring my com-

The international airport cargo employees after their strike was called off on Friday BL Soni DNA

> Bird damages engine,

grounds Mum-Delhi flight

A Kingfisher airways MumbaiDelhi flight was delayed by a bird-hit during take-off for more than two hours on Friday Flight IT . 331, an Airbus 321 with 120 passengers on board, had taken off at 6.21am when a bird hit its right engine. It touched down within 12 minutes, and the airlines engineers found the engine damaged. An alternate aircraft was arranged for the passengers.

LAW KEEPERS ARE LAW BREAKERS

The image of the police force has again taken a beating after a 20-year-old girl said a constable had raped her. Officers say the best way to salvage the reputation is to give exemplary punishment

Mukesh Trivedi DNA

I hope my life takes a turn for the good, says Sudarshana

> Frauds transfer Rs62K

from managers account

Gamdevi police have registered a case of online debit card fraud after Rs62,000 was transferred online from the account of a sales manager using his debit card number, CVV number and other account numbers. Complainant Gautam Mitra, 28, came to know of the transfer on receiving his monthly statement from the bank, which showed the deduction without Mitra having withdrawn the amount.

Seniors want tough lesson for cop

Somendra Sharma
April 21, 2005: Constable Sunil More raped a 17-year-old college girl inside a police chowky at Marine Drive. October 17, 2005: Head constable Chandrakant Pawar posted at Sahar police station raped a 15-yearold ragpicker near the police station itself. October 3, 2010: Constable Dhananjay Madne and his friend raped a 20-year-old girl at a cottage in Manori, Gorai. The Mumbai Police, hoping to salvage its image tarnished by various incidents in the past, has again lost its reputation because of a deviant constable who raped a 20-year-old on October 3 in Gorai. The matter has once again sparked debates about the credibility of the police force and has compelled people of the city to wonder how safe women are in Mumbai. Senior officers say they usually prefer to take stern action against their men who get involved in such acts, but by then, the image of the police already taken a beating. According to a senior officer, immediate action in such cases is the best thing that needs to be done to check the damage done to the reputation of the police force. Taking exemplary administrative action and dismissing the errant officer concerned is the best thing that can be done in such cases, said an IPS officer. Another officer pointed out: As far as the image of the police is concerned, it is already very low. In fact, its a good opportunity for seniors to take strict action in order to uplift the image, instead of lamenting that departments name is getting spoiled. Eminent lawyer and former IPS officer YP Singh said the constable, who raped the girl in Gorai, had acted like a deviant citizen. If policemen indulge in such acts, it is a serious matter for the department. It is certainly an unbecoming conduct and is in violation of the Maharashtra Civil Service rules. Its a fit case for the constable to be dismissed from service with immediate effect, Singh stated, adding that the police should investigate whether there was any element of consent in the incident, and also how the girl landed at Manori with the duo.

The constable dragged her inside a room and raped her

Manish K Pathak
(Left) Accused Arshad Ali Naqwi (in striped shirt) and constable Dhananjay Madhave (in red t-shirt) being taken away by policemen on Friday; (above) The 20-yr-old rape victim at Gorai police station
Pramod ThakurDNA

Nair baby swap: DNA test is must, say parents

Sunchika Pandey
Accusations of baby swapping at BYL Nair Hospital has opened a Pandoras box and questions pertaining to security measures in civic hospitals have started pouring out. DNA had reported on Thursday how Prabhat and Aradhana Mishra are in a dilemma about the identity of their newborn child after an anonymous caller informed them that their baby boy was swapped with a baby girl. On Friday, the hospital left no stones unturned to convince the Mishra couple that the child is indeed theirs. We have shown all records to the family. There were only two boys born that night, one four hours before their girl and the

> State orders fresh survey

of Wakf board property

Nearly 12 years after Muslim organisations raised objections over the survey of 92,000 acres of land belonging to the Wakf board, the state minority development ministry has appointed districtlevel officials to survey the properties. The 1997 survey allegedly had huge irregularities, over which the Muslim community had raised objections.

FOR 10 MONTHS, HE DIDNT COME TO WORK

> Dhananjay Madne had joined the police force in 2006 and after completing his training, he was attached to the Local Arms Division IV at Marol in 2007. Police sources said Madne had not been reporting to work since December last year. Madne, a resident of Mira Road, lives with his mother > Assistant commissioner of police UA Khairmode of LA IV said several memos had been issued to him asking him the reason for not coming to work, but Madne has not paid any heed > Arshad Ali, a resident of Mira Road, is a BSc student in a college in the same area

> Social welfare inspector

Constable befriends lonely girl, rapes her in Manori

From p1
We arrested Madne and Ali from the parlour on Thursday night and handed them over to the Gorai police station for questioning, Paithankar said. We are also investigating Kritikas role in the episode and trying to gather evidence before arresting her, said MA Bakade, senior police inspector with the Gorai police station. Madni and Ali have been sent to the Nagpada government hospital for medical examination and will be produced before the Borivli court today.

caught taking bribe

An inspector from the district social welfare department has been arrested by officials of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for demanding and accepting a bribe of Rs10,000 from a student to provide him with a caste certificate. The arrested person has been identified as Arvind Shinde who works in Chembur. Shinde was caught accepting the money, said addl commissioner of police, ACB, Niket Kaushik.

WEATHER & ALMANAC

Temperature

Maximum Minimum Humidity Sunrise Sunset

34o C 27o C 89% 6.31 am 6.21 pm

Forecast Sky conditions would be partly cloudy

We had fought the night she left for Goregaon, says boyfriend
Manish K Pathak
Sunny Singh, the boyfriend of the rape victim, said his partner was shattered by the incident, and it took a lot of effort to convince her to register a police complaint against the rapists. I have known her for the past two and a half years. She worked as a telephone operator in my office. She stayed with her mother in Andheri, but recently she shifted to a rented accommodation in Khar. On October 2, we argued over something at night, after which I went to sleep. I did not know when she left the house, Singh said, adding that his girl-

Tides
High Low 12.31am 4.86m 12.28pm 4.45m 6.33am 0.90m 6.41pm 0.04m

Moonrise 7.54 pm Moonset 7.27 pm

Sunny Singh said he had to convince her to lodge complaint with the police. She was in shock and was really shattered
friend told him that she had gone to a hookah parlour at Goregaon. She said she was approached by a girl, who was accompanied by two persons. They then invited her to their place. As my girlfriend was alone, she joined them. Later, they kidnapped her and confined her for two days in a room at Manori village where

Saturday, October 9, 2010 Shri Vikram Samvat 2067, Sake Era 1932, Sun Dakshinayan, Dakshin Gole, Sharad Ritu, Ashwin Shukla Paksha Dwitiya till 5.59pm, Nakshatra Swati till 12.29am, Yoga Viskumbha till 1.59am, Karan Balav till 7.24am and after that Kaulav till 5.59pm and after that Taitil till 4.49am, and Gar starts

Rahu Kala : 9am to 10.30am Yam Ganda : 1.30pm to 3pm Best Period : 7.30am to 9am and 5.30pm to 7.30pm

they raped her, Singh said, adding that on October 3, he called her up, but could not get through because her cellphone was switched off. Later, her phone was answered by a man who started abusing me. After three days, she escaped from their clutches and told me about the incident, he said. Singh went along with her at the Goregaon police station and filed a police complaint. I had to convince her to lodge a police complaint. We have idea who was the girl that approached my girlfriend at the parlour, Singh added.

The 20-year-old girl, who was allegedly raped by a police constable and his friend at a cottage in Manori, narrated to the police how the accused befriended her on finding her alone in a hookah parlour in Goregaon. The victim said that around 10pm on October 2, she left her Khar residence following an argument with her boyfriend, Sunny Singh. She then took a rickshaw and headed towards Goregaon. She went to Royal Smoke parlour at SV Road in Goregaon (W) where Dhananjay Madne [the constable] and Arshad Ali were already present along with a friend, Kritika. The victim seemed depressed and on seeing her alone, Kritika approached her and asked her to join the group, said senior inspector Surendra Paithankar of the Goregaon police station. As the victim was feeling lonely she joined them. Around 6am, , they left the parlour. Kritika invited her to go with them to their Malad residence and take rest, said Paithankar. They left in an autorickshaw. On reaching Gorai, the victim asked them about the location. Kritika then told her they had changed the plan and were on their way to Water Kingdom for a picnic. When they reached the Manori village in Gorai around 7am, they booked a cottage there. The victim told us that after entering in the cottage, Madne and Ali dragged her inside a room and raped her, Paithankar said. After the incident Kritika took the victim to her house in Mira Road in the afternoon, and they spent the day there. The same day evening, they returned to the hookah parlour and after spending a few hours there, they left for their respective residences, said another police officer. The victim told the police that on October 6, Ali called her up several times and asked her to meet him. When she refused, Ali warned her of dire consequences. A scared victim then informed her boyfriend about the incident.

HC GUIDELINES
> CCTV and 24-hr security at all entry-exit points > Public address system, LCD/DVD players are a must at important places > Footprints, finger prints, special birth marks, biometric identification should be done in 2 hrs > No infant can be taken out of hospital without the permission of the sister in-charge. Staff at neonatal/post-natal ward should wear uniform with IDs
other six hours after her, explained Dr Ravi Rananavare, dean of the hospital. Only a DNA test will satisfy us, said an angry Suresh Chandra Mishra, grandfather of the newborn. This is not the first such incident in a civic hospital. In January 2009, Mohan and Mohini Nerurkar, a Chemburbased couple, reported that their three-day-old boy was kidnapped from Sion Hospital. Following the allegations, the high court ordered that civic hospitals need to put into place proper security measures. The court asked BMC to file a compliance affidavit. Since the civic body has been avoiding it, the matter was adjourned twice. The hearing is now scheduled for October 11, said Amit Karkhanis, advocate representing the Nerurkars. The affidavit will be filed on Oct 11, said Manisha Mhaiskar, addl municipal commissioner.

Dismissing the errant officer concerned is the best thing that can be done in such casesA senior IPS officer

NGO ORGANISES ONE-ACT PLAY COMPETITION ONLY FOR MEDICS

Doctors self-medicate with theatre

Ninad Siddhaye
Doctors are trained to always look serious and never emote. But once every year, a growing bunch of medical professionals in the western suburbs gather to turn this notion on its head. Anwiti, a non-profit organisation of doctors has been organising a one-act play competition exclusively for the medical community and this Sunday will see , the third year of the unique face-off in which four groups of doctors will take centre stage. The state has a legacy of doctors who have made it big in the field of acting, be it theatre, cinema or television. Legends such as Dr Sreeram Lagu, Dr Kashinath Ghanekar, as well as the new breed comprising Dr Girish Oak and Dr Amol Kolhe have shown that a doctor need not routine work, said Dr Talegaonkar. The competition is among a series of other activities promoted by the organisation, which includes blood donation camps, seminar on health awareness in schools, and informative lectures about herbal medicines, among others. Being doctors, we understand the feelings of our friends. Many people think that a doctor has no emotions. However, we have many amongst us who are poets, as well as writers. The one-act play competition is just another platform for doctors to showcase their skills, said Dr Kaiwalya Thakur. This years competition will be held in the auditorium of Sathye College in Vile Parle (East). Noted Marathi actor Vinay Apte will be the chief guest for the prize distribution ceremony .

Man held for cheating actor wife

Shahkar Abidi
A Juhu-based actress has lodged a case against her husband and his two brother-in-laws from his first marriage for cheating and threatening her. The police said that Rajesh Patel, 29, the husband, was arrested from Gujarat on Thursday while the other , two accused are still at large. According to the police, the 22-year-old complainant, Rucha Ranawat, lodged a complaint in July stating that Rajesh married her by claiming that he was a bachelor. In 2009, the complainant visited Gujarat where she learnt that he was already married. Although I disbelieved it initially, the facts were too strong to be ignored, Rucha reportedly told the police in her statement.

Grenade explosion kills 2 children, injures 10

A firing was on between ITBP jawans and Maoists when a grenade fell inside a residential school in Gadchiroli on Maha-Chhattisgarh border
Jaideep hardikar
Four people, including two children, were killed and 10 students were injured on Friday after a grenade exploded inside a residential school during an exchange of fire between security forces and Maoists in north Gadhchiroli on the Maharashtra-Chhattisgarh border. Reports said that the grenade explosion killed Sunil Halami, 11, Nansa Hidako, 12, a cook, DG Gawade, and a 55year-old villager on the spot. Gadhchiroli superintendent of police Viresh Prabhu refused to divulge any other details about the incident. The residential school, run by the tribal development de-

The firing started shortly after an IED blast triggered by the Maoists killed three ITBP jawans
partment for adivasi children, is located in a sensitive Maoist territory Information collated . from unofficial sources suggested that a firing was on between Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) jawans and the Maoists. The jawans are posted in Chhattisgarh as part of the anti-naxal operations. The firing between the two groups started shortly after an IED blast triggered by the Maoists killed three ITBP jawans near

DOCS IN THE ACT: Medical professionals rehearse ahead of the one-act play competition on Sunday
only be a stethoscope-wielding Stoic, but can also be socially and culturally vibrant. Taking inspiration from these stalwarts, four doctors from the western suburbs Dr Sanjy Talgaonkar, Dr Sachit Dhulap, Dr Prashant Naik and Dr Kaiwalya Thakur joined forces three years ago and decided to start a one-act play competition. The only condition is that the actors in the play must be doctors. This competition was conceptualised by likeminded doctors to do something different from their

the border. Three ITBP jawans, a source said, chased a group of armed Maoists inside Maharashtra towards Sawargaon; and it was during that exchange that a grenade fell inside the school. The exchange of fire lasted two-and-a-half hours after which the superintendent of the ashram shala tried to get help from the nearest police camp. She managed to shift the injured children to Murumgaon and then to Gadchiroli in private vehicles by evening. One among the injured children was shifted to a private hospital in Nagpur late on Friday night. Five children are being treated at Murumgaon rural hospital and four at Gadchiroli district hospital.