Sexual assault case: Survivor says ex-cop Pradeep Sharma protected husband

Pradeep Sharma

A 30-year-old woman, who had filed a sexual assault case against her husband last year, has alleged that former officer Pradeep Sharma had pressured the MIDC police to exclude a stringent charge in the FIR. This was to help her husband who was the ‘collection agent' of Sharma, once-famous encounter specialist.

The police added the more serious charge, Section 377 (unnatural offences) of the IPC, after Sharma was arrested by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for his alleged involvement in the Ambani bomb scare case. The woman approached the NIA on Saturday alleging that her husband was working as a "collection agent" for Sharma.

"We got married on March 2, 2016, at Faizabad in Uttar Pradesh and later shifted to Andheri, the survivor told mid-day. "Our dispute started in 2019 and finally, I filed a complaint with the MIDC police on December 17, 2020. The police recorded my statement again on February 7 while filing the FIR. However, because of Sharma, my statement was not used in the FIR and the police didn't add Section 377. No action was taken against my husband."

"The officer had told me that there is a huge pressure from Sharma and the commissioner's office to make the case lighter," she alleged. She said she learnt that her statement was changed in the FIR registered in Marathi, which she doesn't understand, after speaking with her lawyer later. I had earlier filed a petition in court and also met Joint Commissioner Vishwas Nangre Patil in this matter, but I didn't get any help. However, the very next day of Sharma's arrest, on June 18, the MIDC police sent her a notice to be present for medical examination, and also added Section 377 in the FIR.

She also alleged that when Sharma was in the force, her husband would "bring black bags full of money to the house. His family members told me that earlier sacks full of money used to come home every day. My husband had claimed to be a builder, but I have neither seen his office nor any construction site." The investigation officer, Assistant Inspector Vaishali Chavan of the MIDC police station, refused to talk. mid-day could not contact the survivor's husband despite several attempts.