Mumbai: A police constable has been arrested for allegedly molesting a 19-year-old student of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay in neighboring Navi Mumbai. The police gave this information on Saturday. The incident took place on Palm Beach Road in Sanpada in the early hours of Friday, an official was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
According to the woman’s complaint, she had come late on Thursday night from the IIT campus in Powai, Mumbai, to Sanpada area to meet a male classmate. After a walk on Palm Beach Road, he decided to return to IIT by the first local train of the day at 4.08 am and till then pass the time by walking around the area. A police team in a patrolling vehicle questioned them around 3 am and when they showed their ID cards and explained why they were there, they left.
The complaint states that after a few minutes a constable came on a two-wheeler and started questioning them. He allegedly asked the male student to sit on the motorcycle and leave the woman behind, but the latter refused. When he asked the woman to sit on the two-wheeler and she too refused, the police constable allegedly manhandled her and tried to force her to accept the ride. A car driver on the road stopped his vehicle and came to their aid.
FIR registered
The constable was then taken to the Sanpada police station where the woman lodged a complaint. After he and his friend returned to IIT, an FIR was registered against the constable under Indian Penal Code (IPC) section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty). The FIR was transferred to Sanpada police station, following which the constable was arrested. The official said that the blood samples of the accused were collected to check whether he was under the influence of alcohol, further investigation is underway.
