How a Chembur family lives in fear after hate crime on board Madgaon Express
The Shaikhs’ refusal to chant a Hindu slogan as demanded by a bunch of boisterous students on their way back to the city from Sindhudurg
MUMBAI: In the winter of this year, what should have been a happy train journey for the Shaikh family that was returning from their hometown in Sindhudurg to Mumbai turned into a nightmare, as it eventually led them into a wrangle with cops and court.
On January 19, Asif Shaikh, 37, an electrical contractor, his wife Jasmin, 27, and their daughters aged two and four, boarded a train (Train no, 11100, LTT Madgaon Express) to Mumbai after participating in the annual celebrations at the Hazrat Madarshah Baba dargah in Varvade Kalachi Muslimwadi, Kankavli tehsil, in Sindhudurg district. As the train pulled out of the Kankavali station, the Chembur resident and his family settled down in their allotted seats, preparing for a relaxed family time.
The stillness inside was soon punctuated when a group of boisterous college students entered the bogey – no sooner had they settled down, they slipped into bawdy talk and occasionally broke into smutty songs. “They were singing loudly and creating a commotion,” Shaikh recalled. “As my daughters and other passengers were disturbed by the nuisance around us, I went up to the group and requested them to keep it down. My daughters were feeling scared.”
That simple request led to a sinister turn of events. As Shaikh spoke in Hindi, one of the boys from the group demanded to know his religion and caste. “The moment they realised we were Muslim, their demeanour changed. They started insisting that we chant religious slogans like ‘Jai Shri Ram’ with them.”
The atmosphere became charged when Shaikh and his wife resisted them. The students allegedly launched into a barrage of verbal abuse, their language laced with religious hatred. Threats followed, targeting the family’s faith – they allegedly insisted that those who refused to chant the slogan had no right to continue to reside in India and should leave for Pakistan.
The situation went out of hand when, according to Shaikh, one of the students, flung a cup of hot tea at his younger daughter. Another student allegedly lunged at his older daughter, attempting to strike her. The group became violent and started verbally abusing the couple and their children. They continued to do so despite the family’s pleas for peace.
Call for help
As fear gripped the family, Shaikh reported the incident to various authorities – he tagged the railways and the railway police by posting about the incident on X, and subsequently called the railway helpline number. When he contacted the railway authorities at Chiplun station, he was told that their complaints had been forwarded to the authorities concerned. The family was asked to wait till the next station.
At the next station, Khed, Shaikh, his heart pounding, reported the incident to railway authorities and lodged a complaint online. “We were assured that action would be taken,” he said.
On reaching Panvel, officers from the Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrived at reached the bogey and took eight students – seven boys and a girl -- into custody. However, Shaikh’s ordeal was far from over. “The RPF officers refused to register a complaint against the identified students. Instead, they berated us with offensive language, adding to the trauma we had already experienced,” he said.
As the students were being taken to the RPF station, one of them fled. At the RPF station, instead of registering an offence against the remaining seven accused, the RPF officer – both the senior inspector and inspector – started pulling up Shaikh, he alleged. In his petition filed in the Bombay high court subsequently, Shaikh has said after they were taken to Panvel police station they were assured that their statements would be recorded there, and an FIR would be registered against the seven students.
Accordingly, in early hours of January 20, the Panvel police registered an FIR, but only against one unidentified person under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 504 (insult with intention to provoke breach of peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code.
“The police officers at Panvel police station started pressurizing us to change our statements and refused to register a complaint against the specific individuals involved,” Shaikh recounted. “They only registered a non-cognizable offense against an unidentified person, despite us clearly identifying the culprits.”
A police from GRP however refuted allegations of negligence and inaction, and insisted that the Panvel police had applied all the sections applicable according to Shaikh’s complaint. He added, since the incident occurred in the jurisdiction of Kankavli police the case was transferred there.
Police-political nexus
After the FIR registered at Panvel police station was transferred to Kankavli PS for investigation, on January 23, the Kankavli police asked Shaikh to visit the police station to record his statement. He set out for Kankavli the next day.
He said, when he reached his residence in Kankavli on January 24, a group of men reached his house and threatened him to retract his complaint. Shaikh alleged that the mob was sent by BJP MLA Nitesh Rane, and pressured him to withdraw his case. CCTV footage, preserved pursuant to a subsequent HC order, has documented this ordeal.
Despite the intimidation, Shaikh refused to back down. He left the police station, pleading for protection, only to be met with rejection. After returning home Shaikh alleged he faced another brutal assault, which was caught on video. Cops arrived at the scene and took an injured Shaikh to the Civil Hospital where doctors refused to treat him after learning that he had been beaten, purportedly by Nitesh Rane’s men. The on-duty doctors at the government hospital administered primary care, but refused to admit him as an indoor patient, after which he visited a private hospital where he got proper treatment.
When HT contacted Nitesh Rane for his reaction, he said, “This is an odd case and the police inspector in charge of the Kankavli police have submitted the report saying that I have had no role to play in it. In fact, people from his own village confronted him for defaming the village by lodging a false complaint against a college student. There is no question of me threatening the complainant to withdraw the case.”
Legal recourse
As he returned to Mumbai on January 25, the Kankavli police registered a counter case against Shaikh, allegedly at Rane’s behest. Cornered, Shaikh escalated the matter to higher-ups in the police force as well as the chief minister and the home minister. After the FIR against him, the Kankavli police sent him a notice saying if he failed to return to the police station, he would face arrest.
Shaikh had no option but to move court.
His petition to HC, on April 10, details the harrowing experience on the train, the subsequent harassment by RPF and police officers, and his struggle to get a proper case registered against the eight college students. It argued that the family was targeted based on their religion, in violation of their fundamental rights of the Constitution of India.
In an order passed on May 6, 2024, the bench headed by justice Revati Mohite-Dere acknowledged the seriousness of the allegations. The bench directed the police to provide Shaikh and his family with round-the-clock police protection, recognizing the potential threat they faced.
Justice Mohite-Dere, referring to the incident as “very disturbing” further directed the authorities to investigate the incident thoroughly and register a case against the identified individuals. This directive acted as a glimmer of hope for Shaikh and his family.
However, the fight for justice remains far from over. Despite the court order for round-the-clock protection, Shaikh was allegedly attacked in Mumbai soon after. His car was vandalized and its glasses were shattered. Despite complaints to the zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police, no FIR was registered.
“The police didn’t follow the court order on account of Lok Sabha elections and assured that protection would be given after May 25. However, in the meantime this happened,” said advocate Gautam Kanchanpurkar, Shaikh’s lawyer.
The attack cast a shadow of fear over the family. “Today, my family constantly looks over their shoulders worried about the next act of violence,” said Shaikh.
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