‘Molestation’ of teen actor: Wife of accused says it’s a misunderstanding

NEWDELHI: The wife of a Mumbaibased businessman who was arrested late on Sunday for allegedly molesting a teenage Bollywood actor on board a flight said her husband had “no intention to molest” and the incident was the result of a “misunderstanding”.

“My husband is innocent, he had no intention to molest. There was a young death in family, which is where he went. He hadn’t slept for 24 hours. He asked the crew not to disturb him. His foot was on the arm rest but not with the intention to harass,” the woman is quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

On Sunday, the 17-year-old actor, a National Award winner, posted a video narrating how she was touched inappropriately during a Delhi-Mumbai Vistara flight the night before.

“There was no immediate reaction by her. I don’t know why she levelled these allegations, maybe there was a misunderstanding. He is a family man and can never do such a thing. We want justice,” the wife said.

The suspect, who is 39 years old, was identified with the help of the airline and description provided by the girl, whose name is being withheld due to legal protocols that protect the identity of victims in sexual crimes.

He will be produced in a magistrate court on Monday.

In her Instagram video, the actor shows a man sitting behind her repeatedly putting his feet on her back and neck.

“This is not the way, this is not (how) a girl should be made to feel because this is terrible. Is this how they are going to take care of girls?” she says in the video, which was made shortly after the flight’s landing in Mumbai late on Saturday.

According to the Sahar police, a FIR was lodged based on her oral complaint under section 354 (assault or criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of Indian Penal code (IPC) and section 8 (sexual assault) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act against the unknown passenger.