Man held for molesting woman scribe

An 18-year-old man has been arrested for allegedly molesting a woman journalist working in an English daily in suburban Vile Parle, a senior police official said on Wednesday.

The incident took place on Monday night when the victim, who is in her 30s, was going towards Vile Parle railway station after visiting a relative. According to police, the accused, identified as Sanjay Verma, works in a hotel as a waiter.

The woman told the police that when she was walking on MG Road, the accused hit her from behind and tried to molest her. However, the woman dragged Verma to a nearby police chowki, he said.

“The constables posted there called a police van and the woman as well as the accused were brought to Vile Parle police station,” he said.

According to police, although the journalist was initially not keen about filing a complaint, she decided to do so after consulting a senior police official.

A case under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) was registered against Verma. The accused was arrested and produced in a local court yesterday, which remanded him in police custody, the official added.

Man arrested for flashing at woman

A 20-year-old man was on Wednesday arrested for allegedly flashing at a woman at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST) railway station, a senior police official said.

The incident had occurred on June 29, but it came to light after a video went viral on social media, the official said.

The 22-year-old victim, who works for a child rights NGO, was about to travel to Nashik by an express train when the incident took place. The accused, identified as Ashok Pradhan, who is a rag picker, allegedly exposed himself to the woman on platform number 13 when she was about to board the train.

The offence took place on June 29 around 5.45 am. The matter came to light after the video of the incident, shot by the victim, went viral on social networking sites, the official said.

“A case in this regard was registered at CST police station today. We examined the CCTV footage of that day and traced the accused within six hours after the registration of the case. He was arrested from Carnac Bunder area of the city,” ACP Machindra Chavan said.