Mumbai police commissioner DN Jadhav

Mumbai, Jan. 2: Two women were molested by around 80 men who pounced on them and tore their clothes, but the Mumbai police chief said such incidents could happen again anytime.

“This can happen every year. It could happen now. Why are you blowing it out of proportion?” commissioner D.N. Jadhav said. “It is just an offence.”

The women, NRIs from California, were attacked while they were walking towards Juhu beach at 1.45am yesterday. Accompanied by two male friends, the women had just come out of JW Marriott Hotel after ringing in the New Year.

They were chased by around 40 men — the mob later swelled to around 80 — who were passing lewd comments. One of the women retaliated. But the mob trapped the women between a vehicle and a tree, and pounced on them. A man in a white shirt tore off the black dress of one of the women. Another, in a blue shirt, led the assault. As the women fell to the ground, dozens of men jumped on them.

The victims were rescued when a traffic police team, led by an inspector, arrived and chased away the attackers.

But the police chief only had advice for the media today. “Don’t create a mole… mountain out of a molehill,” he said, avoiding a Freudian slip. “I can’t keep police behind every man…. Such things happen.”

Last year, too, a woman was assaulted by a mob on New Year’s Eve at the Gateway of India.

But Jadhav might be regretting his words.

Soon after, deputy chief minister R.R. Patil said in a statement: “The police chief’s reaction was inappropriate and the government is taking the matter seriously. Strict instructions have been given to the city commissioner of police and the additional police commissioner.”

Since the victims are from California, the case will be taken up by a fast-track court, Patil said.

Another police commissioner — Calcutta’s Prasun Mukherjee — had lost his job because of his comments following Rizwanur Rahman’s death.

Mukherjee had told a news conference that the reaction of the Todis, who had brought pressure to break up their daughter Priyanka’s marriage with Rizwanur, was “natural”. He also questioned the desirability of marriages where the “financial and social status” did not match.

By evening today, Jadhav was speaking the same language as the minister. “We have registered a suo motu (on our own) case against the culprits, but are yet to make any arrests. We have started a probe. If there has been any lapse on the part of the police, we will take action against the concerned policemen,” he said.

No FIR had been registered all day though the news was out in the morning.

Yesterday, Kochi police had filed a case on their own after a Swedish tourist was harassed by revellers on a beach.

The NRI women did not file a complaint when they were taken to Juhu police station because they had come to Mumbai for the New Year without telling their parents.

“I got in touch with the girls, they are not from Mumbai and not in Mumbai,” said additional commissioner Archana Tyagi.

PTI said the women were in Valsad, Gujarat.

“If the (traffic) police officer had seen the happenings, he should have come forward and filed a complaint himself rather than just taking the victims to the police station,” Tyagi said.

Women who live in Mumbai say they would rather not go to the police.

Mugdha Deshmukh, 20, said she had learnt her lesson when she filed a molestation complaint on December 25.

“I had made sure the man was out of earshot when I gave the cops my name and address. The next day, I saw the same man standing at my doorstep. He asked me to reimburse the Rs 1,200 he had paid as bail,” Deshmukh said. “He could have only got the address from the cops.”