At a time when more and more women are speaking up about sexual harassment at the workplace, a former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) corporator has come forward with a case that took place 36 years ago.
Rejina Gaikwad (54), a resident of Aundh, has alleged that she was molested by a Pune-based businessman in 1981 while working as a receptionist in his office at Bopodi.
In her complaint, filed at Khadki police station, Gaikwad has named Atul Kotkar, owner of Kotkar Automobiles, as the perpetrator and claimed that he tried to rape her.
According to her complaint, Gaikwad used to live with her parents, an older sister and younger brother at the time. To contribute to the family’s meagre finances, Gaikwad completed Class X and a teaching certification and started working with a private company in Sangvi. In August 1981, she changed jobs and took a receptionist’s post at Kotkar Automobiles, which was then located in Bopodi. Its present location in Deccan.
Gaikwad claimed that despite having been taken on as a receptionist, she was made to undertake cleaning work, too.
Occasionally, Kotkar would ask her to come out with, but she refused. In September 1981, Kotkar insisted that he would take her out one Sunday. He asked her to come to Jay Hind theatre in Khadki. He picked her up on his motorbike and nearly an hour later, they arrived at a hill. Gaikwad did not recognise the area, though Kotkar later told her it was Hanuman Tekdi.
She alleged that Kotkar then took her on top of the hill and molested her. Gaikwad, who had not eaten all day, suddenly fell unconscious. When she regained consciousness, she realised that Kotkar was on top of her, touching her inappropriately.
“I tried to get up, but he pushed me down and tried to rape me. I was furious. I finally pushed him off, got to my feet and started looking for stones to hit him with. Finally, we came down and I managed to leave the spot. I went into trauma due to the incident —the memory still haunts and infuriates me,” she told Mirror.
Later, Kotkar then took her to a sports club, asked her to sit outside and went to play table tennis with some friends. After a while, he dropped her at Dapodi market and left.
The complainant did not share the incident with anyone. Fearful and angry, she went back to work. But, a few days later, Kotkar allegedly asked her to come to the storeroom and molested her again. Other employees spotted them and he was forced to let her go. Later, when the complainant tried to confront him, he alleged that she had stolen some material from the firm.
Gaikwad further stated that she had tried to talk to a policeman, but he shrugged her off and told not to discuss it with anyone.
Finally, she quit her job and decided to move on. But, she could not forget the trauma.
“I tried to talk to so many people but nobody would help me since I was from a financially weak background. I got married in 1986 but we separated in 1993 due to personal issues,” Gaikwad added.
But, her life was to change greatly. In 1992, Gaikwad contested the civic elections and garnered the maximum votes for a female corporator in 20 years. At the age of 26, she was also the youngest corporator in Pune. During her tenure, her focus was on widows and women of little financial means.
But despite success and fulfilment, she continued to be disturbed by her past.
Kotkar, who now takes spoken English classes at her Aundh residence, told Mirror, “I started looking for Kotkar’s contact information. I wrote him three letters and tried to call him. I just wanted him to apologise, he didn’t even have to meet me. But, my efforts went in vain and I finally went to the police. When the cops called Kotkar to the station, he came with his lawyer and started making allegations against me.”
Kotkar, however, painted a different picture and seemed determined to see himself as the victim.
He said, “Rejina worked with us in 1981 for a few months. She suddenly started making these false allegations and extorting money from me. I have a stellar reputation in the city, which she is trying to ruin. This is all a conspiracy and I explained it all to the cops. It is possible that she is mentally disturbed, but we are going to sue her for defamation.”
Senior police inspector Laxman Borade of Khadki police station, said, “We have received the complaint from Gaikwad and are conducting an inquiry into the matter”.
Assistant police commissioner Ganesh Gawade added, “There are some provisions in the Code of Criminal Procedure regarding time limits for reporting such cases. If this is a clear case of molestation and attempted rape, we will investigate the matter and definitely take action.”
