Escaped girl gets no pity

MID-DAY (OCT 2001)

By Skimmy Gupta

It would have been better if she had consumed poison and died. She has brought disgrace to the family. This is what the uncle of Pooja Oberoi, the girl who escaped yesterday after allegedly being held captive for six years by her paramour, had to say.

Pooja's mother, Anita Pawar, too distanced herself from the situation, though her daughter is now staying with her at Khar. " I am not concerned with Pooja as she was away from home for the past six years. I am being dragged into this matter unnecessarily," she said.

Sub-Inspector Mukhtar Sheikh of Oshiwara police station said, " Pooja did not get along with her mother and step-father because of her affair with the accused Sanjay Bhatti." But others are more sympathetic. " It's all Allah's karam that Pooja escaped," said Rumi Jaffery, into whose house she fell, after jumping from a sixth floor flat.

Jaffery, a film scriptwriter, who stays on the fifth floor of building D1/2, Yamuna Nagar, Oshiwara, said, " I was out on Tuesday night and there were only two servants at home. At 9.15 pm, they saw Pooja fall on the balcony grill and into the room. I came back then to find her crying hysterically. She said she wanted to call her mother and asked us to call the police. She said that that man (Bhatti) tortured her. I called the police."

The building's managing committee members blame the estate agents for renting a flat to Bhatti, and allege that it was done without verifying Bhatti's credentials. But the estate agents, Ali and John P, said Bhatti had registered Pooja as his wife in the biodata submitted to them, though there were no documents or photographs to confirm the marriage.

The biodata was attested by the local police station. Ali said, " The police gave the green signal and we were satisfied with the man' s details. How would we know what a tenant will do in future?" John P asked. " Once our deal and agreement is over, we have no concern with the party," Senior Inspector Arun Kulkarni of Oshiwara Police Station said.

He added, " Investigations will be conducted at all levels. We have also come to know Bhatti was earlier involved in forgery and default of credit card payments. Cases have also been registered at a few police stations."

Sources revealed that Pooja was still under the influence of sedatives, which, she claimed, was given to her by Bhatti. She refused to speak to the press. Bhatti is currently in custody of the Oshiwara police.