Police acted against rapist tantrik three years too late

MUMBAI: If only the police commissioner had taken note of a complaint against self-styled tantrik Mehdi Hasan three years ago, the ordeal of the seven girls he raped for four years could have been mitigated.
TOI has a copy of the complaint submitted to the commissioner’s office by two of the victims’ father. Dated July 31, 2007, it mentions Hasan’s harassment of and threats to the duo’s family.
The JJ Marg police arrested Hasan, alias Zainul Abedin Shaikh, alias Javed Nadim Khadim, aka Bengali Baba, on Sunday on charges of rape and causing miscarriage.
The complaint was also submitted to the additional commissioner of the special branch (responsible for gathering intelligence) and the Byculla police. But none took action against Hasan. It is only now that police commissioner Sanjeev Dayal has said that he would check with his office about the complaint.
Sources close to the duo’s family said that Hasan had introduced himself as Khadim. The complainant, who was divorced, wrote that after he separated with his wife, Hasan manipulated her with black magic to buy a flat in his name. "The flat (is) located at Yusuf Chambers, opposite Gloria Church, Byculla... the money, Rs 40 lakh, was paid by my ex-wife. The tantrik is using the flat for black magic," the complainant wrote. He also informed the police that Hasan would beat up his (the complainant’s) ex-wife and children. "I am worried about my daughters (then 16 and 13). He can outrage their modesty."
Hasan has been remanded in police custody till December 3. His victims include five minors. One of the victims, now 22, is a maid servant. The other six are pairs of sisters, who are also cousins; the youngest of them is 13.
When the police raided Hasan’s rented room in Kalyan on Monday, they recovered cash and ornaments worth Rs 1 crore.
The first step in Hasan’s strategy was to befriend the victims’ mothers. When one of the women told him about her mentally challenged sons, he said a cure was necessary, or else her daughters too might deliver disabled children after marriage. He promised to "cure" the girls through black magic, but began raping them.
"When his victims became pregnant, he recommended abortion, saying if they bear children outside marriage, no man would ever marry them," said a source.
The complainant has several businesses, including a travel agency. His daughters are 19 (a commerce student at a reputed college in south Mumbai) and 16. Two victims are from Colaba (their father is a doctor). One is 18 (an MBBS student) and the other 17. The remaining pair of sisters are 16 and 13. Their father is a captain in the merchant navy. Hasan forced four of the girls to go for abortion, one of whom had to undergo the procedure thrice.