Misbah complains to Maria; broker, builder deny charges: Times of India

Mumbai: Young media professional Misbah Quadri, who has said she was virtually forced out of a rented flat as she is Muslim, on Friday wrote to police commissioner Rakesh Maria complaining about the discrimination she faced in Sanghvi Heights in Wadala (East). She also forwarded the complaint to the National Commission for Women.

The move came as the builder and broker she had blamed for her harassment boosted efforts to disprove her allegations.Developer Shailesh Sanghvi has denied his firm discriminates against Muslims and pointed at the fact that other Muslims are living in the building.

Quadri insisted that when she had met a builder's representative, Rajesh, she was told the society did not want Muslims. The Muslims living there were politically well-connected. Rajesh Nasnolkar, who works for Sanghvi, has denied it.

The broker, identified as Bansal, has now publicized a police complaint he had filed against Quadri on April 16, accusing her of illegally occupying the flat without a leave and license agreement, a no objection certificate from the builder and police intimation. He claims these procedures had been followed for the other girls living in the flat, but Quadri had refused to do so.

Quadri said she had no knowledge of the police complaint and learnt of it through the media. She contended that she and her flatmates had tried hard to contact the broker before she moved in but he was unavailable. He called just hours before she was moving in, informing her that Muslims weren't allowed in the flat. He asked her to sign a no objection certificate, saying the broker, builder and housing society cannot be held responsible if she is harassed in the society . Quadri says she refused to sign such an undertaking and moved in as her flatmates supported her.

The broker claims she had moved in without the owner's permission and should be charged with trespassing.

In her complaint to the police commissioner, Quadri said she met the two girls with whom she was to share the Wadala flat via a Facebook page of a housing portal. She has accused the broker of trying to prevent her from moving as she was Muslim. When she moved in, she says the broker hounded her and threatened to throw her belongings out of the house.