Updated on: 5 July 2023 04:05 PM IST | Mumbai
S S Nadar | news@debotimes.in

Ayyaz Ansari’s victims recalled how he approached them saying he was a friend of their father’s and that he wanted to pass on his mobile number, the police said.

A DISTINCTIVE gait, a missing eye and the use of the same story to lure minor girls were the first clues for the police to piece together that instances of sexual harassment and sexual assault in many areas of the city were the handiwork of one man. In 2014, the police claimed that the person was likely to be the perpetrator of over 25 cases of molestation in the city, primarily its western suburbs.

Multiple teams were formed by the Mumbai police, each tasked with a different set of tasks to narrow down on the culprit. While some were looking through CCTV cameras near places where the crimes took place, others were looking through past criminal records to find a match to the description given by the victims.

Some remembered that he had a disability in one eye, others recalled his gait. Most recalled how he approached them introducing himself as a friend of their father and that he wanted them to pass on his mobile number. He would then ask the minors to follow him, take them to an isolated spot and sexually assault them. After multiple complaints were received from parents, the police also prepared a sketch and it was widely circulated to alert residents to prevent further incidents as much as to nab the accused.

Based on the information including CCTV footage of the areas where he last committed the offence in Sion, the police suspected the man to be Ayyaz Mohammed Ansari, a habitual offender, previously arrested in cases of mobile phone thefts. When they reached his home, the family said that he had not visited for over six months. The search for him continued. Subsequently, the brother of the accused alerted the police about receiving a call from him asking for money. A trap was set up where Ansari’s brother called him to meet him and the police arrested him.

Following his arrest, the police booked him in at least 25 cases of molestation. His lawyer told court that some of the cases were filed against him in a bid to put the blame on him for other unsolved crimes. While he was cleared of some cases, Ansari was found guilty in two cases of rape in 2017 and 2018 by the Mumbai City Civil Sessions Court. After he was convicted in the second case, the court considered it to be a repeat offence, and directed that he be sent to jail for the remainder of his life.