Keenan Santos, then 24, and Reuben Fernandez, 29, were killed on the night of October 20, 2011, when they stood up to a man who was sexually harassing their women friends, including Keenan’s girlfriend Priyanka Fernandez. The group of youngsters had just stepped out of an Andheri restaurant after dinner when the convicted Jeetendra Rana made a pass at one of the girls. Having been told off by Keenan and Reuben, Rana returned with a gang of four men, armed with choppers. The attack was described as brutal in the chargesheet and sexual harassment was declared as the main provocation in the case. After several delays, four accused – Jitendra Rana, Sunil Bodh, Satish Dulhaj and Dipak Tival – were arrested a day after the incident on charges against murder, conspiracy and molestation.
A special women’s court convicted all the four accused and awarded life imprisonment until death that killed two young boys.
Keenan was stabbed four times and died the next day, while Reuben succumbed to his injuries on October 31, 2011, 11 days after the incidence. After dinner at the Amboli Bar and Kitchen, Keenan, Reuben and their friends, Avinash Solanki, Benjamin Fernandez (Reuben’s brother), Priyanka Fernandes and two other women, were visiting a neighbourhood paan shop when a group of men began to pass lusty remarks at the women. When Keenan objected to the remarks, the group then left, but returns after some time with weapons along with 20 others and killed Keenan, while wounding Reuben.
The four friends had not given any time to react. They stabbed Keenan first, and then Reuben came forward. They hit Benjamin (who was that night with Keenan and Reuben) with a bamboo stick on his head and he fell to the ground. Keenan fell on his back. One attacker pressed him down with his knee, looked him in the eye, and stabbed him squarely in the chest. That’s the stab that took Keenan’s life.
A year after the murder, Keenan’s father had written a letter to the then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh requesting stronger laws to ensure the safety of women. However, the crime against woman is on rise since 2014. Crime against women continues to become a grave concern for the Mumbai Police as statistics reveal that such crimes have increased considerably in the first quarter of this year as compared with the first quarter of last year. Apart from this, other serious offences which are on a rise are attempt to murder, robbery, thief and cyber crime.
On 29th April 2014, in the wee hours of Sunday, a group of navy officers misbehaved with a woman in front of her husband in a posh pub in Khar. On the same day, a tenant was gang-raped by her landlord’s son and two of his friends in Goregaon’s Aarey Colony area. Earlier, an unknown man in Powai raped a 38-year-old woman, who had left her home after an argument with her relatives.
885 offences of crimes against women were registered from January till March in 2016 as against the 848 registered in the same period last year. Till March 2016, 138 cases of rape were registered, with 76 minors being raped. Last year’s figures for the same were 96 and 51, respectively.
Kidnapping of women, too, is on the rise with 76 cases registered this year as against the 67 registered last year. This year, 71 minors were kidnapped, while last year, the number was 54. Cases of outraging modesty of women have increased from 327 last year to 390 this year. Cases of mental and physical harassment for dowry have risen from 133 last year to 154 this year.
Meanwhile, other crimes too have plagued the city in the first quarter of this year with the police registering 9,142 criminal cases under the Indian Penal Code as against the 8,422 registered last year for the same period. While 45 attempt to murder cases were registered last year, this year, there have been 53. Cases of robbery, including chain-snatching, have risen from 588 to 666. Cases of house break-in have increased from 649 last year to 735 this year, while cases of theft have increased from 1,499 last year to 1,589 this year. Cyber-crime offences registered this year till March are 54 as compared with the 41 cases registered from January to March last year. Cases of crimes against women have increased in the first quarter of this year as compared with the first quarter of last year. What do you have to say on this?
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