The police on Tuesday arrested a 33-year-old autorickshaw driver for allegedly masturbating in his vehicle while ferrying a female customer in Kandivali on Monday night.
According to the police, inquiries were initiated into the matter when Neeraj Shetty, founder and CEO at Recycle Impact, tweeted on behalf of the victim.
“Hello @MumbaiPolice. A rickshaw driver was masturbating while looking at my friend in the rearview mirror. He picked her up today at 10.50pm from Kandivali station. As soon as she realised, she panicked and got down midway. [MH 02 (UA/VA) 5177]. He’s still roaming free out there! (sic),” Mr. Shetty tweeted.
The police replied to the tweet saying, “We have followed you. Please share contact details on DM. We will look into this on priority.”
Based on the information obtained from Mr. Shetty, the investigating team scanned Closed Circuit Television camera footage of the Kandivali station area till they spotted the autorickshaw. After matching the license plate number, the police set about tracing the driver using the registration details available with the Regional Transport Office.
Meanwhile, sub inspector Archana Patil, Kandivali police station, visited the victim at her residence on Tuesday, where she recorded a detailed statement from her regarding the incident.
“We picked up the autorickshaw driver from his residence in Hanuman Nagar and arrested him. The victim has identified him and he has been charged with outraging a woman’s modesty under the Indian Penal Code,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone XI) Mohan Dahikar said.
Mr. Shetty later tweeted his thanks to the police for their prompt action.
“Special thanks to Prashant Kesarkar from @CPMumbaiPolice office for hearing us out at midnight & activating the search overnight with the help of PSI Jagtap from Kandivali station. Thank you so much. One less creep in road today and slowly but surely we’ll soon clean up the city (sic),” he tweeted on Tuesday.
