22-year-old gets life for killing man who sexually abused him

“Every night, Bharti would watch porn on his mobile phone and then sexually abuse me. He sodomised me on several occasions. He was the eldest among the five of us who shared the room and everyone respected him. I could not talk against him. That day, I could not contain my anger and stabbed him with a knife,” Jaiswal said in his testimony to the police and later before the trial court.

Jaiswal’s testimony was backed by his another roommate, Amarjeet Jaiswal, who is a complainant in the case. Hailing from Uttar Pradesh, Jaiswal had come to Mumbai a few years ago. He lived in a small 10×10 feet room along with four others. All five worked as daily wage workers at tailoring shops. Amarjeet said a month before the incident, Jaiswal had confided with him how Bharti would find opportunities and abuse him sexually.

“He (Jaiswal) was angry and wanted to put an end to this. But he did not want anyone to know about it. He was ashamed and scared… Days later, I saw him buy a knife from a local vendor,” Amarjeet testified before the court.

On the day of the incident, at mid-night, Jaiswal and Bharti got into a scuffle suddenly. Hearing the noise, a neighbour informed the police. Bharti, who suffered serious injuries, died few hours later. The Bhandup police arrested Jaiswal from the spot and he has been behind bars ever since. As Jaiswal could not afford to appoint a lawyer for himself, legal aide was provided to him by the state.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com