Mumbai, Apr 18 (Mid-day): “Give him to us for 10 minutes, I want justice for my child. We will make sure that he is left incapable of repeating what he did to her.” Angry outbursts rang out from a crowd of outraged parents who had flocked to DN Nagar police station yesterday, to confront the man who had molested their children.
Months of anger, fear and sorrow culminated in these angry invectives against serial child molester Ayaz Mohammad Ali Ansari alias Firoze Kaniya (in pic), who was arrested on Wednesday from the Golibar area of Khar (East) after a city-wide hunt was launched by several teams of policemen last week.
While the parents had been summoned to the police station to give their statements against Ansari, they had some plans of their own. With news of Ansari’s arrest spreading, the angry parents of several of his victims made a beeline for the police station. With fury in their eyes, the parents waited to catch a glimpse of the man who had caused trauma to their daughters – and avenge them, if possible.
According to the overwrought man who wanted to confront Ansari, his daughter was playing outside her house one evening, when Ansari approached her. The one-eyed molester lured the girl with his usual modus operandi, telling her that he was a good friend of her father. He asked her to follow him so he could give her his cell phone number, to be given to her father.
The angry father added, “He was a nuisance in Nirmal Nagar area. Residents have held meetings in the past, after he molested several children. When the cops called us to the police station on Wednesday to record our statements, the news of his arrest spread in our area. All the locals who had so far been terrified because of him came together. Each of us wanted to kill him.”
Parents of the victimised children, accompanied by some locals from Nirmal Nagar and DN Nagar area came together and planned an attack on the man. They decided to intercept him on his way to the court. “Somehow the police came to know about our plans. It was only because of their intervention that we maintained peace and order,” said a parent, who refused to divulge the details of his case.
The mother of a child who was molested in DN Nagar said, “He should be killed right away. There is no point in dragging the case on. If he is released, more innocent girls will suffer. He is a drug addict, and he can go to any extent to fulfil his fantasies.”
Ansari had accosted her daughter as she played on the mezzanine of her home. He identified himself as Irfan and asked her to follow him, claiming that he wanted her to give her father a cell phone number. The impressionable child followed Ansari and returned traumatised, telling her mother how she had been stripped and molested at knifepoint.
Red herring
Gauging the anguish of the parents and knowing that plans for a confrontation were afoot, the DN Nagar police deployed over 15 policemen to escort Ansari to Sessions court yesterday.
Taking extra precautions, they sent two decoys covered in burqas, along with the accused, so that the angry mob gathered outside Sessions Court would not know which burqa hid Ansari. Two policemen with stenguns guarded the accused. No one was allowed to get too close, in course of the entire journey to the Sessions Court.
Senior Police Inspector Rajendra Chavan of DN Nagar police station said, “The accused has been charged under section 376, 363, 506 and other sections of The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. He was produced before the Sessions Court and has been remanded to police custody till April 25.”
Cops: Ansari snatched phones, but never used one
During interrogation, Ansari told cops that after he was released on bail in May last year on a chain-snatching case, he visited brothels twice in Grant Road. His first victim was a young girl in Nirmal Nagar. Managing to escape undetected, he started molesting girls frequently.
He told the police that he would consume alcohol and drugs before venturing out on the prowl for young, unaccompanied children. Senior Police Inspector Rajendra Chavan said, “He told us that he had snatched several mobile phones in the past. So he had easy access to mobile phones to lure his victims, but never used them.
He told us ‘Agar mein ek bhi baar mobile phone use karta, aap log mujhe paani bhi nahi peene detey aur arrest kar lete (If I had used the mobile phone even once, you would have arrested me even before I could have a drink of water).’
He also told cops that on the day of his arrest, he had a hunch that the police laid a trap for him, but he was desperate for money and drugs, and had to venture out. According to the police, Ansari showed no sign of fear during interrogations. An officer said, “Ansari is very smart, and gives quick answers.”