Mumbai: Two days after a video of a minor girl being physically assaulted by a man in Nehru Nagar, Kurla went viral, police have re-arrested the accused for molestation. Following the incident on Tuesday, accused Imran Shaikh had been charged with assault and released on bail, but public outrage prompted the police to arrest him again under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) on Sunday.
On Sunday, the accused was produced in the sessions court which remanded him in police custody till October 25.
According to the police, the incident took place when the girl was headed to tuition class around 7 p.m. Mr. Shaikh and his friends were sitting in an autorickshaw.
“The accused and his friends were talking loudly and passing comments. When the girl walked by, Mr. Shaikh passed a comment that made her turn and tell him to behave," an officer with Nehru Nagar police station said.
Furious, the accused began hitting her. The girl resisted and tried to escape him, but even as she struggled, Mr. Shaikh pulled out a sharp object and hit the girl on her nose, which started bleeding and she fell unconscious.
As chaos ensued, her relatives landed up and took her to Rajawadi Hospital. Police said they approached Nehru Nagar police station to lodge a complaint.
“We had arrested the accused the same day and had charged him under relevant sections for assault as per the statement given by her. As the sections were bailable, he was released on bail on Friday,” a police officer said.
Family not satisfied
However, the victim’s family alleged that the police initially did not register the FIR and charge the accused with molestation, as per their demand.
“Mr. Shaikh's family threatened mine and asked us to withdraw the complaint. They demanded that my daughter change her statement. Today, police have taken the statement again and have added the [molestation] section," the victim’s father said. “My daughter has sustained a serious injury to her nose. The bone has been fractured. Doctors has advised us to go for surgery.”
DCP (Zone 6) Shahaji Umap said, “We have added sections under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and for causing grievous hurt by dangerous weapons under the IPC as per the supplementary statement of the victim. We have arrested the accused and our probe is on.” He added that as POCSO has been invoked in the case, it will be investigated by Police Inspector Manisha Shirke of Tilak Nagar police station.
