Enumerator collecting data for Maratha Survey assaulted by Bandra West resident

When Chipkar descended to the lower floor and was speaking to another flat owner, the women from the eighth floor followed her and abused her.

“When I tried clarifying that I was just performing my duty, the situation escalated as the resident from Room 801 descended for the altercation. I was physically dragged and compelled to go downstairs, with guards instructed to push me out,” Chipkar said.

She then reported the incident to her senior, Dr Diksha Banerjee, a medical officer from Bandra, who rushed to the building and tried pacifying the woman.

“While things cooled down for some time, the 8th floor resident followed us when we were on the third floor and started abusing us. She was stopping the other residents from participating in the survey. Then she grabbed me by my throat,” Chipkar said.

The woman then turned her attention towards Dr Banerjee who was also assaulted.

“She assaulted the doctor, slapping her and kicking her leg,” Chipkar said.

The two then went to the Bandra police station where an FIR was filed against the resident.

“We have booked the accused under sections 353 (individual either uses or threatens to use criminal force specifically to deter a public servant from performing their duty) and 332 (offence of voluntarily causing harm in order to deter a public worker from doing his duties) of the Indian Penal Code and are further investigating the matter,” said Sanjay Marathe, senior inspector of Bandra police station.

“We haven’t made any arrests as of now. We have sent a notice to the accused, summoning to the police station,” Marathe added.

Meanwhile, the police have requested BMC officials to allow 48 hours for their investigation into the matter. A senior officer from BMC stated, “If the police do not take any action against the resident, then we will decide the next course of action. The enumerators were simply performing their duties, and if someone chooses not to participate, no one can force them. However, assaulting and abusing a doctor is a criminal act.”

Between January 23 and 31, the survey aimed to cover a total of 38,62,190 houses. Out of this, 4,04,057 houses declined to participate, resulting in a refusal rate of approximately 10.46 per cent.

As per the information gathered by The Indian Express, the highest number of refusals were recorded from South Mumbai.

The Indian Express had earlier reported the challenges being faced by enumerators while conducting the survey with people declining to divulge the required information.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had claimed that during the first six days of the survey which commenced on January 23, nearly 10 per cent of households in Mumbai that were to be enumerated declined to provide information. This is however the first reported instance of violence against enumerators.