My father is not a rapist, says astrologer's son

MUMBAI:For 11 years since his mother died, he and his father shared every chore in thehouse. Rajiv Rathod, the 25-year-old son of astrologer Hasmukh Rathod, refusesto believe the charges of rape that have been filed against his arrestedfather.Not only did they share chores, but Rajiv feels, they alsoshared secrets and his father could not have been involved in sex crimes withouthis knowledge. A-year-and-a-half ago, Rajiv gave up his call-centre job andstayed unemployed for a year. "I used to work at a call centre, but couldn'tadjust to night shifts. After I left my job, I used to stay at home; so I wouldhave known if any sex crime was going on. We live in a one-room-kitchen flat andmy neighbours peek in all the time. Our building is nearly 30 years old and myrooms are far from soundproof,'' he said. Rajiv has been running acomputer-assembling business for the past six months.Sixty-year-oldHasmukh has been arrested for allegedly raping the daughters of a Mira Roadcouple and advising the father to have sex with the eldergirl.Rajiv, who lost his mother to brain tumour when he was in StdVII, is extremely close to his father and says he was present at many of thelatter's consultations with clients. "My father is not a tantrik in the firstplace. He is an astrologer and a numerologist who does not offer pujas orindulge in any kind of black magic. Whenever a woman called him up forconsultation, he would ask her to bring her husband or father along,'' Rajivtold TOI. "After my mother's death, my father had a chance to remarry, but hedid not do it for me. He has brought me up single-handedly, cooked my meals andnursed me during illnesses.''When asked if he was acquainted withthe two alleged rape victims, Rajiv said he knew them only socially. "My fatherwas friends with the girls' grandfather when the family lived in Vile Parledecades ago. They used to deal in car upholstery and had consulted my fatherwhile designing the interiors of a Volkswagen. In the past few years, I have metthe girls at community functions or weddings. The girls have visited my house atJuhu only once with their parents, last Diwali, when they came to wish us andbrought sweets.'' Rajiv added that two years ago, he received aproposal to marry the older girl, who is 21 now. "My father told me that thegirl's parents had approached him with a rishta. But I refused as I was only 23and wanted to concentrate on work. Besides, she wasn't my kind of a girl. Iwonder if this could have driven her to press charges against my father,'' headded.Rajiv said he has neither visited the girls' home in Mira Roadnor spoken to them on phone. "Some time ago, the girls' father was in need ofmoney for expanding his business. He had approached my father for a loan. But myfather had invested all his money in FDs in my name. He asked the girls' fatherto approach me for the loan, but he never actually came to me.''Rajiv added that the only time he spoke to the girls' father on thephone was when the latter wanted an advice on gemstones. "My father always gaveappointments and never did consultations on phone. He even charged professionalfees from the girls' father, despite they being family friends,'' hesaid."We have been portrayed as rich people, but we aren't. Myfather never got along with his siblings because he got a very small share whentheir ancestral property was sold off. Since my father's arrest, I have beenrunning from pillar to post. I'm living at an undisclosed location, haveswitched off my cellphone and have been unable to attend to my computerbusiness. My life has been paralysed. If my father gets convicted, I will havenothing to live for,'' he said. Rajiv did not get an opportunity tospeak to his father in the police lock-up, despite going there for three days."Why did the victims wait for so many years to lodge a complaint? And how comenone of my father's other clients never had a complaint against him? If weassume that my father did advise the victims' father to have intercourse withhis daughters, then why did he follow the instructions instead of walkingway?''