Harassed girl8217;s suicide bid

MUMBAI, March 24: Triveni Deshmukh 19, a resident of Kalyan east, attempted suicide by consuming phenyle on Sunday minutes after she was...

MUMBAI, March 24: Triveni Deshmukh 19, a resident of Kalyan east, attempted suicide by consuming phenyle on Sunday minutes after she was dragged out of her house and beaten up by goons. Triveni, who has lodged a complaint with the Kolsewadi police, has blamed her landlord for the attack.

8220;The landlord of our chawl Ranganath Hidore and his goons have been threatening to kidnap, rape and kill me for quite some time now. They want us to vacate our house,8221; she said. The Deshmukhs have been living in Datta Niwas, Kolsewadi, for the last 22 years. In the last ten years they have been repeteadly threatened by their landlord.

An eyewitness to the attack, Ramakant Upadhyay, who lives in the neighbourhood confirmed that Hidore and his men had attacked Triveni. 8220;The Deshmukhs have been consistently harassed by Hidore, and Triveni in particular has been targeted by them to create fear in the household,8221; he said. He charged the Kolsewadi police with being hand-in-glove with Hidore, 8220;which is why they refusedto register her complaint before Hidore had filed his own against her. Triveni8217;s complaint, thus, only became a cross-complaint.8221;

Triveni8217;s father Harishcandra Deshmukh said his family would have moved, 8220;but we don8217;t have the means to do so.8221; He said that he was forced to approach the court when the landlord began using pressure tactics. The court asked both parties to maintain status quo till the matter was finally settled, and the next hearing is scheduled for March 26.

8220;But my landlord has become more aggressive after the court8217;s directives,8221; claimed Deshmukh. 8220;Repeated threats have affected my wife8217;s health too,8221; he said and added that when Hidore realised his tactics weren8217;t working, his men began targeting Triveni.

8220;I8217;ve had to put up with the most vulgar jibes on the street near my house every time I pass by,8221; Triveni said. 8220;I decided to ignore them, though it was difficult.8221; They also threatened her on three occasions that she 8220;would be kidnapped, raped and killed if her parentsdidn8217;t agree to vacate the house,8221; she said.

Since Triveni didn8217;t want to add to her parents8217; woes, she didn8217;t tell them about the threats. But on Sunday, Hidore and five of his men barged into the Deshmukh home and before her parents could realise what was happening, began beating her up, dragged her out on the streets and tried to tear her clothes. 8220;Triveni tried to put up a fight all along and bit two of them,8221; Upadhyay said.

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Triveni claimed Kolsewadi police refused to entertain a complaint from her. 8220;Scared that my parents would get into more trouble, I tried to commit suicide,8221; she said. The idea of consuming phenyle came from a newspaper report read by her, she added. When she was taken to Rukminibai Hospital, she came to know the police had filed a case against her mother and herself, and her complaint had been taken cognizance of only after Hidore had filed his own. They were presented in Kalyan court on Monday and released on bail.

But, Hindore denies that he or his men attacked Triveni.8220;They attacked us instead,8221; he said, but failed to explain how he and his men had managed to get inside the Deshmukhs8217; home. 8220;You can make enquiries in the area,8221; he suggested, casually adding, 8220;She Triveni is not a girl of good character.8221; None of the other neighbours were willing to get involved, fearing for their and their family8217;s security. 8220;We have to live here with our children,8221; one of them said.