More than a month after previous commissioner ordered probe into Santacruz cops in disappearance and death of Carol Misquitta, family alleges threats, and asks: will new commissioner deliver justice?
Pinky ‘Carol’ Misquitta
The files related to the enquiry into Santacruz police over its botched-up probe of Vile Parle woman’s missing complaint are gathering dust. Former commissioner of police (CP) Hemant Nagrale had ordered the probe based on mid-day’s reports on the matter, but there has been “no headway” in the past one month, said a police source. Recently, her mother was approached by unknown people for settlement. Now, the family pins its hopes on the new CP.
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We have pinned our hopes on the new police commissioner, Sanjay Pandey, to give us justice. We have heard a lot of good things about him and we hope that he will ask his men to conduct a thorough as well as time-bound enquiry into the Santacruz police,” said Victoria Pereira, the aunt of Pinky Misquitta alias Carol, 28.
Pinky Misquitta was popular among family and friends as Carol
mid-day reported on February 8 about the former commissioner’s order, directing Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Manjunath Singe to ‘enquire and report’. About a month later, this paper contacted senior officers, including the joint CP (law and Order), additional CP (West Region) and the Singe, for the ‘status of enquiry’, but none of them responded.
“This signifies how serious Mumbai police are about the safety and security of women. The launch of Nirbhaya squad is just hogwash to gain media attention. It’s been more than a month, no idea what enquiry the DCP is conducting. He (Singe) does not even respond to calls or messages of citizens in distress,” said Victori.
Carol’s body was found in Palghar 10 days after she went missing. Her boyfriend Zico Misquitta and his friend Kumar Babu Devendran allegedly killed her on the night of January 24, when she went missing. Her widowed mother Catherine Misquitta went to the Santacruz police station the next day, but was turned away. She said they were busy launching the Nirbhaya Squad helpline, and registered a missing complaint 48 hours later.
Zico Misquitta, the alleged killer. Pics/Hanif Patel
It was the Palghar police that found Carol’s decomposed body on February 3, and arrested Zico and Devendran. Her family and social worker Anita Shetty alleged that they had requested the police to interrogate Zico, but they let him go after a 10-minute questioning.
‘Cops didn’t check CCTV cameras’
Shetty said in the first few days of the probe, Santacruz police did not check the footage of CCTV cameras installed on the route that Carol and Zico took to Palghar on January 24. On the enquiry ordered by Nagrale, Shetty said, “None of us were called to assist in the enquiry. When did they even start it? Why has the DCP been asked to enquire? He is so insensitive that despite getting a message from a distressed family member of a missing girl, he did not have the courtesy to reply. What will he enquire? Naturally, the files will gather dust. I am not surprised at all.” “We are now losing hope in Mumbai police. It was an open and shut case, but the Mumbai police did not handle the case properly,” she added.
Carol’s mother Catherine (left) and aunt Victoria Pereira
Offer for settlement
Meanwhile, Catherine told mid-day that she is being pressured by some unknown people to withdraw the case, and that she was given an offer of Rs 1 crore to settle. She approached Santacruz police who recorded her statement on March 3, but no FIR was filed.
“On February 28, I was going to see a doctor when a man and a woman on a bike stopped me and asked to compromise. When I asked them if my daughter would return, they replied: ‘lahaan mulga aahe, settlement karaa (Zico is a young boy, settle the matter)’,” she said.
“They then said ‘Tumchya muliche khup byte jhale, tumhi compromise kara, tumhala ek karod deto (It’s too bad what happened to your daughter. You compromise and you will get Rs 1 crore’. This riled me and I took out my slipper to thrash them, but they sped away,” Catherine said, adding that they were both wearing helmets and masks.
Zico’s accomplice in the murder, Kumar Babu Devendran
“I am terrified after this incident, as I am now all alone. I don’t know who those two people were. They said they came from Juhu. I don’t want to do any settlement. I want justice for my daughter,” she said. “It was not a threat. The alleged people approached her for settlement. Our investigations are underway,” said senior inspector Dnyaneshwar Ganore of Santacruz police station.
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