By: Vinod Kumar Menon
Mumbai: The complete statement of Laksmi Roberts (name changed), the 23-year-old US national, studying in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), who was allegedly gangraped on April 11 at Andheri. The victim stays at Hostel no.6, new campus, TISS.
The statement
"I came to India from USA in October 2008 to attend a religious pilgrimage. Later in January 2009, I joined TISS to do a course in Gender and Development. I state that I have been staying at Hostel no.6 inside the TISS campus in Mumbai since January 2009. In Mumbai I met Annie Brown (21), who is studying with me in the same course (mentioned above) and resides in hostel number 6 with me. Mrs Shruti Chakravarty is the co-ordinator of the course in TISS.
On April 11 at 10.30pm I went to Annie Brown's room to ask her how she was faring with her research paper. She said that she was working on it and planned to go out with her friends to to Café XO near TISS once she finished working on it. She asked me whether I would like to go along with them and I agreed. She also mentioned that she would be leaving for Darjeeling on the morning of April 12.
After that Annie and I left at about 11pm to join her friends who were waiting outside the gate of the new campus (Nowrojee campus). There were five of them — Vinambr Soni, Jaskaran Singh Bhullar also known as Karan, Harsh, Anish and Dev. I had earlier met Vinambr Soni, Karan and Anish at Annie's birthday party in February 2009. I met Harsh and Dev for the first time that night. All of us went to Café Xo, which is a lounge bar at Sai commercial centre, Deonar Road.
After reaching Café XO, the other boys ordered for ten bottles of Kingfisher strong beer (650ml). Harsh, Anish and the other boys kept saying that would drink to get completely drunk. I did not want to drink but they kept insisting me to give them company over the drinks. Finally I ordered for a cranberry vodka drink and we all sat, talked and drank together.
After some time Harsh wanted to smoke and asked me to accompany him outside. We stepped outside Café XO and talked about India, while he was smoking his cigarette. He also pulled up his trouser to show me a tattoo of a mushroom on his leg below his knee. He told me that I should try LSD drug. After he finished his cigarette, we both went inside Café XO.
The waiter brought some more beers to the table and we started drinking again. I finished my vodka and wanted to stop drinking but the boys kept on insisting me to drink more. Harsh kept pressurising me to drink more so I drank a little beer so that they would stop insisting me.
Meanwhile a fight broke out between Vinambr and a boy from another table. I was very scared and I shouted 'shanti', 'shanti' and wanted them to stop fighting. Harsh told me to be quiet and sit down. The fight ended after some time with Vinambr's shirt torn and he had a mark on his chest and his hand was also swollen. We then stepped outside into the parking lot and everyone except me started smoking cigarettes. I don't like cigarettes and did not smoke.
Then one of the boys rolled a joint with hashish or marijuana and they smoked it. Then we went back into the bar. Once more Harsh kept insisting that I should drink some more and reluctantly I had a sip of beer from a bottle on the table. Then Harsh told me that I had to finish the whole bottle. I did not want to and kept telling him so but he kept insisting that I drink all the beer in the bottle. He then poured the beer into a glass and put it in front of me insisting that I should finish the drink immediately. I did not want to but I drank the beer.
Soon I started to feel dizzy and light headed. We went outside Café XO and some of the guys smoked cigarettes. The man who had a fight with Vinambr also come out of the bar. They looked like they would start fighting again. I said that we should leave before another fight broke out. We left Café XO a little after 1am on 12th morning.
We started walking towards TISS. Karan and Harsh kept asking me what my plans were for the night. I told them that I wanted to meet up with my friend Ahmed at club Bling in hotel Leela Kempenski in Andheri. I told them that they were welcome to join me. The boys insisted that Annie should join us but Annie refused, as she had to catch a flight to early in the morning.
After that at about 1.30 am we took two autorickshaws for Andheri. I sat with Vinambr and Karan in one auto, while Anish, Harsh and Dev took another rickshaw. We stopped on the way as Anish, Harsh and Dev got out to pee. Harsh then came to our rickshaw and told us that before going to club Bling we would first go to their friend's house in Andheri where we would relax for some time and then go to club Bling.
I said that I did not want to go to their friend's place and go to club Bling. After about 30 minutes, the rickshaw stopped somewhere in Andheri near a building. The other auto also halted behind our vehicle. We went inside the building and took the lift to the sixth floor. On the sixth floor corridor a well built man aged 24-25 years greeted us.He was wearing a short sleeved black T-shirt with the word 'Love Peace' written on it. He had a tattoo of a lion on his arm. He welcomed us into his flat and was introduced to me as Kundan.
After some time I went into a room where Vinambr and Karan were hanging out. Kundan joined us and put on some music and left the room. Vinambr and I sat on the mattress that was kept on the floor against the wall in the room. He hugged me and started kissing me. I told him to stop but he did not heed my request. He said that he loved me and started kissing me again.
Karan also came there and started kissing me. Karan lifted my t-shirt and also pulled my bra up. He started touching my breasts. I tried to stop him but he continued to do so. I went into the bathroom and tried to call my friend Ahmed who I was supposed to meet at Club Bling but he did not answer his phone. I then called my friend Vikram Phatak who lives in Los Angeles, USA but as he was busy, he could not speak to me. As I was in the bathroom for a long time, someone knocked on the bathroom door. I came out of the bathroom and at this point I was unable to walk properly. I went into the bedroom again and lay down on the mattress. I was not feeling well at all. I was also scared and feeling uncomfortable. I just wanted to leave that place. I tried to get up but I could not stand steadily. I fell down on the floor.
I woke up at 10am with great difficulty and saw that Vinambr was sleeping to my right side and Harsh was sitting near me playing with my hair. Karan was sleeping next to Harsh and I felt disgusted, dirty and scared. Harsh covered my body with a blanket up to my shoulders. I realized my bra was undone and that my belt was unbuckled and my jeans had been pulled off all the way down and were around my ankles. My underwear was also pulled down to my ankles. I was scared and worried that they had raped me and they had shoved their penises inside me.
I was also having my periods and checked to see if I could feel my tampon inside me. At first I could not find it and I was very worried. I pulled my pants up, zipped up my pants and buckled my belt and went into the bathroom. In the bathroom, I found my tampon still inside me I was experiencing a lot of pain in the area around my vagina and when I came out of the bathroom, all the boys started waking up. Harsh insisted that I should go to a chemist. Harsh, Vinambr and I got into a rickshaw and drove around to the corner chemist shop. Harsh insisted that I should take a contraceptive pill. I thought that he had sex with me and that was why he was telling me to take the pill. Harsh asked the chemist for I-pill. I took the pill and was feeling scared and uncomfortable and so I left immediately and went back to the hostel.
Later that day I informed about the incident to my course co-coordinator Mrs Shruti Chakravarty. She told me to go to Rajawadi Hospital, where she would meet me. The doctors at Rajawadi asked me to hand over my underwear, bra and t-shirt and jeans worn at the time of the incident to conducted the medical examination. The doctor referred me to the police.
I waited for the police but they did not turn up. Thereafter we left the hospital. I was so traumatized by the incident that I was scared to leave my room. Due to my mental condition and fear I was unable to come to the police station until today after speaking to my mother, friends and Mrs Chakravarty. I then felt comfortable and supported enough to come to the police station to register a complaint under crime register 111/09 under section 376(g) and 34 of IPC.
Source: MID DAY
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Mumbai: The complete statement of Laksmi Roberts (name changed), the 23-year-old US national, studying in Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), who was allegedly gangraped on April 11 at Andheri. The victim stays at Hostel no.6, new campus, TISS.
The statement
"I came to India from USA in October 2008 to attend a religious pilgrimage. Later in January 2009, I joined TISS to do a course in Gender and Development. I state that I have been staying at Hostel no.6 inside the TISS campus in Mumbai since January 2009. In Mumbai I met Annie Brown (21), who is studying with me in the same course (mentioned above) and resides in hostel number 6 with me. Mrs Shruti Chakravarty is the co-ordinator of the course in TISS.
On April 11 at 10.30pm I went to Annie Brown's room to ask her how she was faring with her research paper. She said that she was working on it and planned to go out with her friends to to Café XO near TISS once she finished working on it. She asked me whether I would like to go along with them and I agreed. She also mentioned that she would be leaving for Darjeeling on the morning of April 12.
After that Annie and I left at about 11pm to join her friends who were waiting outside the gate of the new campus (Nowrojee campus). There were five of them — Vinambr Soni, Jaskaran Singh Bhullar also known as Karan, Harsh, Anish and Dev. I had earlier met Vinambr Soni, Karan and Anish at Annie's birthday party in February 2009. I met Harsh and Dev for the first time that night. All of us went to Café Xo, which is a lounge bar at Sai commercial centre, Deonar Road.
After reaching Café XO, the other boys ordered for ten bottles of Kingfisher strong beer (650ml). Harsh, Anish and the other boys kept saying that would drink to get completely drunk. I did not want to drink but they kept insisting me to give them company over the drinks. Finally I ordered for a cranberry vodka drink and we all sat, talked and drank together.
After some time Harsh wanted to smoke and asked me to accompany him outside. We stepped outside Café XO and talked about India, while he was smoking his cigarette. He also pulled up his trouser to show me a tattoo of a mushroom on his leg below his knee. He told me that I should try LSD drug. After he finished his cigarette, we both went inside Café XO.
The waiter brought some more beers to the table and we started drinking again. I finished my vodka and wanted to stop drinking but the boys kept on insisting me to drink more. Harsh kept pressurising me to drink more so I drank a little beer so that they would stop insisting me.
Meanwhile a fight broke out between Vinambr and a boy from another table. I was very scared and I shouted 'shanti', 'shanti' and wanted them to stop fighting. Harsh told me to be quiet and sit down. The fight ended after some time with Vinambr's shirt torn and he had a mark on his chest and his hand was also swollen. We then stepped outside into the parking lot and everyone except me started smoking cigarettes. I don't like cigarettes and did not smoke.
Then one of the boys rolled a joint with hashish or marijuana and they smoked it. Then we went back into the bar. Once more Harsh kept insisting that I should drink some more and reluctantly I had a sip of beer from a bottle on the table. Then Harsh told me that I had to finish the whole bottle. I did not want to and kept telling him so but he kept insisting that I drink all the beer in the bottle. He then poured the beer into a glass and put it in front of me insisting that I should finish the drink immediately. I did not want to but I drank the beer.
Soon I started to feel dizzy and light headed. We went outside Café XO and some of the guys smoked cigarettes. The man who had a fight with Vinambr also come out of the bar. They looked like they would start fighting again. I said that we should leave before another fight broke out. We left Café XO a little after 1am on 12th morning.
We started walking towards TISS. Karan and Harsh kept asking me what my plans were for the night. I told them that I wanted to meet up with my friend Ahmed at club Bling in hotel Leela Kempenski in Andheri. I told them that they were welcome to join me. The boys insisted that Annie should join us but Annie refused, as she had to catch a flight to early in the morning.
After that at about 1.30 am we took two autorickshaws for Andheri. I sat with Vinambr and Karan in one auto, while Anish, Harsh and Dev took another rickshaw. We stopped on the way as Anish, Harsh and Dev got out to pee. Harsh then came to our rickshaw and told us that before going to club Bling we would first go to their friend's house in Andheri where we would relax for some time and then go to club Bling.
I said that I did not want to go to their friend's place and go to club Bling. After about 30 minutes, the rickshaw stopped somewhere in Andheri near a building. The other auto also halted behind our vehicle. We went inside the building and took the lift to the sixth floor. On the sixth floor corridor a well built man aged 24-25 years greeted us.He was wearing a short sleeved black T-shirt with the word 'Love Peace' written on it. He had a tattoo of a lion on his arm. He welcomed us into his flat and was introduced to me as Kundan.
After some time I went into a room where Vinambr and Karan were hanging out. Kundan joined us and put on some music and left the room. Vinambr and I sat on the mattress that was kept on the floor against the wall in the room. He hugged me and started kissing me. I told him to stop but he did not heed my request. He said that he loved me and started kissing me again.
Karan also came there and started kissing me. Karan lifted my t-shirt and also pulled my bra up. He started touching my breasts. I tried to stop him but he continued to do so. I went into the bathroom and tried to call my friend Ahmed who I was supposed to meet at Club Bling but he did not answer his phone. I then called my friend Vikram Phatak who lives in Los Angeles, USA but as he was busy, he could not speak to me. As I was in the bathroom for a long time, someone knocked on the bathroom door. I came out of the bathroom and at this point I was unable to walk properly. I went into the bedroom again and lay down on the mattress. I was not feeling well at all. I was also scared and feeling uncomfortable. I just wanted to leave that place. I tried to get up but I could not stand steadily. I fell down on the floor.
I woke up at 10am with great difficulty and saw that Vinambr was sleeping to my right side and Harsh was sitting near me playing with my hair. Karan was sleeping next to Harsh and I felt disgusted, dirty and scared. Harsh covered my body with a blanket up to my shoulders. I realized my bra was undone and that my belt was unbuckled and my jeans had been pulled off all the way down and were around my ankles. My underwear was also pulled down to my ankles. I was scared and worried that they had raped me and they had shoved their penises inside me.
I was also having my periods and checked to see if I could feel my tampon inside me. At first I could not find it and I was very worried. I pulled my pants up, zipped up my pants and buckled my belt and went into the bathroom. In the bathroom, I found my tampon still inside me I was experiencing a lot of pain in the area around my vagina and when I came out of the bathroom, all the boys started waking up. Harsh insisted that I should go to a chemist. Harsh, Vinambr and I got into a rickshaw and drove around to the corner chemist shop. Harsh insisted that I should take a contraceptive pill. I thought that he had sex with me and that was why he was telling me to take the pill. Harsh asked the chemist for I-pill. I took the pill and was feeling scared and uncomfortable and so I left immediately and went back to the hostel.
Later that day I informed about the incident to my course co-coordinator Mrs Shruti Chakravarty. She told me to go to Rajawadi Hospital, where she would meet me. The doctors at Rajawadi asked me to hand over my underwear, bra and t-shirt and jeans worn at the time of the incident to conducted the medical examination. The doctor referred me to the police.
I waited for the police but they did not turn up. Thereafter we left the hospital. I was so traumatized by the incident that I was scared to leave my room. Due to my mental condition and fear I was unable to come to the police station until today after speaking to my mother, friends and Mrs Chakravarty. I then felt comfortable and supported enough to come to the police station to register a complaint under crime register 111/09 under section 376(g) and 34 of IPC.
Source: MID DAY
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