Two years after alleged torture,babysitter awaits justice

Salunke was employed with Nita Trilokani as a babysitter for a monthly salary of Rs 20,000 plus food and accommodation. She joined them in January 2008. The Trikolanis also agreed to look after her son’s education in Pune,said Salunke. However,she alleges,the Trilokanis made her work as a domestic help. “When I refused,the Trilokanis beat me with hot iron rods and sexually abused me,” she said,reminiscing her ordeal at their home in Lanzarote,Spain,that lasted for almost two months.

While the Pune police are yet to take any action,Salunke has pinned her hopes on a letter sent by the International Police Cooperation Unit (IPCU) of Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI) to the Pune police asking them to send a request to Spanish Court to carry out investigations.

Salunke escaped from Trilokanis’ home with the help of a local shopkeeper and went to the police station in Lanzerote where she registered a complaint against Trilokanis.

She returned to Pune on February 28 and lodged a police complaint at Kondhwa police station on March 1. “However,the Pune police have not taken any action citing that the Trilokanis stay outside India,” said advocate Asim Sarode,counsel for Salunke.

Sarode has been pressing the Pune police to take action against Nita Trilokani’s brother N Sachdeva. “It was Sachdeva,a resident of NIBM Road,who got Salunke to work for Trilokanis in Spain. He was looking for a woman who can work for his sister in Spain. His driver then told Salunke about the job. But the police have refused to name Sachdeva in the FIR,” Sarode said.

After waiting for a year,Salunke filed a complaint with Judicial Magistrate First Class Pune on March 14,2009 not only against Nita Trilokani but also against S K Thosar,police inspector (crime) of Kondhwa police station for refusing to register a complaint against Sachdeva.

Thosar said,“We have questioned Sachdeva many times,but we have no reason to take action against him as he has no role in the crime.”

The CBI sent a letter of request to the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA),Ministry of External Affairs and to Pune DCP (Zone 4) Jalindar Supekar on December 12,2009 stating that the request for assistance in investigation and collection of evidence in Spain may be forwarded to the competent judicial authority in Spain under the provisions of Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty between the Government of India and Spain.

“This means,the judicial authorities in Spain can record statements of the police officer who took Salunke’s complaint in Lanzerote,the local shopkeeper and others. The same could be used as evidence here,” Sarode said. “We have been corresponding with the CBI and MHA in the matter,” said Supekar,adding he was not aware of the December 12 letter from the CBI. Salunke,who lives with her six-year-old son after separating from her husband,sells papad and puran poli to a supermarket to make ends meet. “I do not want monetary compensation. All I expect is that the guilty be punished. I hope the police act on the CBI letter and speed up investigations.”