Mental harassment by the chairman of a cooperative housing society

3 years ago

My neighbor, who also happens to be the chairman of the managing committee, has been mentally harassing my family for 9 months now. The ceiling of my home is consistently being subjected to frightening footfalls of running, jumping, and extremely disturbing noise of throwing objects/dragging of furniture. This happens throughout the day and at odd hours after midnight.

The by-laws mandate the managing committee to intervene and act decisively in such situations, but the managing committee has been saying that the matter is private and needs to be addressed by the two families in question. The chairman and his family are just not willing to cooperate. The management recently called a Special General Meeting where the committee passed a questionable resolution that they will stay out of the matter. After the meeting, I have politely invited the chairman for dialogue, but he is not even responding to my messages/emails. He has also been served with a legal notice, to which he has chosen not to respond. Sometime in June and October, the police were also approached. The policemen said that they cannot do more than issuing a customary warning. NC has also been registered against the chairman, which I am told has no value, and cannot bring me and my family immediate relief. I have been advised to file a suit in the court of law, which I am told will take its own time to arrive at a conclusion. I have also mailed the police commissioner, joint commissioner of Mumbai police, and the state minister for cooperation, but they haven’t replied for months now.

I am here with a very simple question; can the law act stringently against a man who has been causing mental harassment to a law-abiding family for nearly a year now? If I approach the court of law, I may end up getting ‘justice’ after years, so should my family tolerate the invasion of privacy till then? The Constitution of India guarantees me the right to privacy and the right to live with dignity, but that is clearly not happening. Please help me by responding if you think that the perpetrator of mental harassment can be brought to book within days, and not months or years.

Please note, I cannot afford to pay more than Rs. 10,000/- for my total legal expenses.