MUMBAI: Vanrai police have filed an FIR against the factory owner and staff of a metal polishing unit on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder in connection with the death of two youths in a public toilet block in Goregaon on Sunday.
Dhivar was the second of four siblings and worked with his brother, Prabhat, at their family-owned bolts workshop. On Sunday, Prabhat broke down at Siddharth Hospital's post-mortem centre where he was shown his brother's body. Seated close to him, Desai's father, Anil, couldn't hold back his tears either. The Desai family had moved from Goregaon to Saphale, located 76km away, since long but the teen would return during Ganeshotsav to spend time with old friends.
Around 11pm on Saturday, Dhivar and Desai had gone for dinner with other members of the Ganpati mandal. After finishing dinner, they returned to the locality and were chatting with the others. Dhivar and Desai went to the toilet block, but did not return. "Half an hour later, a relative decided to check on them," said Desai's father. He found the door to one of the toilet blocks slightly ajar... Dhiwar was lying unconscious inside.
The relative quickly summoned the others. Desai's door was forced open as it was locked from inside.
Both were rushed to Trauma Care Hospital, Jogeshwari, where doctors pronounced them dead. "There were secretions from his nose and his face had turned black," said Desai's aunt. "Did the electroplating factory have a licence? Did nobody monitor how they were getting rid of chemicals," she questioned.
At Shiv Shakti Nagar, police sealed the factory and the toilet block. Desai was to return to Saphale on Sunday. "He had asked his mother to cook chapati-sabji for him. Instead, we are taking his body home," said his father, choking. "The culprit should be apprehended at the earliest and given the strictest possible punishment."
Desai was a student at an industrial training centre, while his father is an auto driver.
Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) put up a pollution monitoring device at the site to monitor for 24 hours. A senior BMC official said, "This is a community toilet constructed by Mhada and subsequently repaired by the civic maintenance department approximately four years ago through District Planning Committee Development Fund (DPDC) funds."
