Chargesheet against rapist tantrik

MUMBAI: The JJ Marg police is likely to file a charge sheet against a fake tantrik, Mehdi Hasan alias Zainul Aabedin Shaikh (37), who raped six girls, five of them minors, on the pretext of curing them.
The case was first reported by TOI on November 29, 2010. Assistant inspector, Santosh Bagwe, who is investigating the case, said, "We have compiled the charge sheet and will be filing it in court soon." Shaikh, a Bangladeshi national, had also procured an Indian passport under a false name, Bagwe said.
Shaikh met the families of his victims in 2005.One of the victims' mother told Shaikh that her sons were mentally challenged. "Shaikh promised to cure the girls so that they would not have trouble conceiving healthy children. He then proceeded to rape them," said Bagwe. "He even raped the maid several times". His youngest victim was a 13-year-old girl. Shaikh forced the girls to undergo abortions when they got pregnant. Once, he posed as a family member while another time, he introduced himself as the husband of the victim, a police official said.
Shaikh has been booked for rape and causing miscarriage under the Indian Penal Code, the Foreigners' Act and the Indian Passport Act, among others.
"The victims picked out Shaikh from an identification parade. We have 17-18 witnesses whose statements will be recorded before a magistrate so that it becomes admissible in court," added Bagwe. Shaikh is currently lodged at Arthur Road jail.
The police have also recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 87.3 lakh and Rs 17 lakh in cash that the victims' families had paid Shaikh to cure their daughters.
fraud tantrik Mehdi Hasan alias Zainul Aabedin Shaikh (37) for raping six girls including five minors. Shaikh, who is a Bangladeshi national, had been raping the girls on the pretext of curing them.
The case was first reported by the TOI on November 29, 2010. Assistant inspector, Santosh Bagwe, who is investigating the case, said, "We have compiled the charge sheet and will be filing in the court against Shaikh soon. He had also procured an Indian passport on a false name of Mohammed Qasim and had submitted fake documents for it." Shaikh, who came to Sultanpur in UP in 1996 from Bangladesh, studied there and came to Mumbai in 1999. "He came in touch with the victims' families in 2005. The victims' mother told Shaikh that their sons were mentally challenged. He promised to cure the girls so that they don't face any such problem after the weddings. He began raping the girls one by one," said Bagwe. The special branch of the Mumbai police has been informed about Shaikh's Dhaka address and they are busy in verifying the address.
Shaikh has been booked for rape and miscarriage under the Indian Penal Code, Foreigners' Act, Indian Passport Act etc. One of the victims is a BDS student, while another is graduating from a reputed women's college in the city. Shaikh's youngest victim was a 13-year-old girl. He even did not spare the domestic maid and raped her too," said an officer. When the girls got pregnant, he took them to nearby hospital and subjected them for abortions. One he posed as a family member of a girl and on another occasion he introduced himself as husband of the girl, said police sources. "An identification parade has been conducted and the girls identified the accused. We have around 17-18 witnesses and statements of some of them will be recorded before a magistrate so that it becomes admissible in the court," added Bagwe. Shaikh is currently lodged at Arthur Road jail.
The police have recovered gold jewellery worth Rs 87.3 lakh and cash Rs 17 lakh from Shaikh's rented rooms in south Mumbai. "The jewellery and cash was given to Shaikh by the victims' mothers so that he did a speedy treatment," said an officer. Besides the booty, the police had also recovered ayurvedic medicines in powder form and sent it for forensic tests. "Shaikh told us that these medicines were to enhance sexual power and he would make the girls to drink the powder with water before raping them," an officer said. The medical reports have confirmed rape.
mateen.hafeez@timesgroup.com