I C Naik
Mumbai Police wants housing societies to be much more alert against crimes towards women. Commenting on recent murder of a household woman in Malad a thickly populated western Suburb in Mumbai, Mumbai police’s statistics say more than 100 murders of women in Mumbai in last 3 years have taken place.
As per the Police in a majority of cases accused have turned out to be someone known to the victim and had access to the home, such as the milk delivery boy , security guard, gas delivery boy , or domestic help. These people were, in many cases, allowed into the house by the victims when they were alone at home. While women have to be firm about not allowing strangers or known persons into their home when alone, housing societies should take action against security guards they have employed if they are found to be lax or display bad behaviour.
Investigators suspect that in the recent Malad murder, the homemaker had also let the accused into her flat. “In many housing societies, visitors’ log books are not properly maintained. Many times, a murder has occurred when the guard has gone to do some other work while on duty,“ said Mumbai police spokesperson (crime) DCP Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Kulkarni said the accused have turned out to be someone known to the victim and had access to the home, such as the milk delivery boy , security guard, gas delivery boy , or domestic help. “These people were, in many cases, allowed into the house by the victims themselves. They are also difficult to trace after the crime because the victim’s family doesn’t have detailed info about them. A similar thing seems to have happened with the Malad woman’s murder as the victim’s family members only knew the accused by name as `Guddu’,“ said Kulkarni. accused by name as `Guddu’,“ said Kulkarni.
Many societies give security guards additional responsibilities such as filling water in the tank or gardening, said Kulkarni. “The killers often are familiar with the guards’ routine and enter the buildings at times when the guards are preoccupied with such tasks. It is also being noticed that hardly very few societies maintain the visitors’ log book,“ he said.
