BJP MLA thrashes man for taking lift from daughter

Mumbai: Parents are always a suspicious lot when it comes to their teenage children. But the degrees make all the difference between the unwarranted and the acceptable, as this incident proves. An innocuous lift given by an 18-year-old girl to a stranded commuter during a rickshaw strike ended with the unsuspecting commuter being pounded by the girl's family, who suspected they were having an affair. The girl is the daughter of a well-known BJP MLA and is a resident of sector 4 in Vashi, cops said.

On March 24, during the rickshaw strike in the area, she came across Dilip Kumar Pandey (45) while passing through Sector 10 in Airoli on her two-wheeler. Pandey asked for a ride till his residence in Sector 19 since he could not find a rickshaw. The girl decided to show some consideration and agreed.

En route, the girl passed by her own house, where, through the window, her wary mother and brother noticed the pair, and assumed the two were having an affair. After dropping Pandey off, the girl returned home to her livid family members, who questioned her what she was doing with Pandey.

Her young blood boiled at the baseless allegation and she had a fiery argument with her parents. Soon after, she stormed out of the house and didn't return for over two hours. This confirmed her family's suspicions about the affair that she wasn't having.

Earlier, while dropping Pandey, she had learnt that his sister-in-law lived near her house. And she had revealed this to her family during the heated interrogation. According to police, her family members landed up at Pandey's sister-in-law's house, and thrashed her entire family. They then forced the family into a car and took them to Pandey's residence, where they beat him and his family up.

On Sunday, Pandey registered an FIR in Rabale police station against the girl's family members and four other unknown persons. "We have registered an FIR and the matter is under investigation," said Nisar Pathan, senior inspector of Rabale police station. The cops, however, refused to divulge further details.