Model who stripped in protest, yet to record statement
Model Megha Sharma is likely to record a statement this week on the ruckus in the posh Lokhandwala Complex, Oshiwara, on October 25. The model has alleged she was not allowed to file a First Information Report (FIR) against the police personnel who insisted she go with them to Oshiwara police station past midnight, when there were no woman constables in their team. They instead, registered a Non-Cognisable (NC) complaint. Police are yet to take action in the case.
Sharma protested in the lobby of her building, by stripping down to the bare minimum in the presence of three male policemen, her building security guard and a few neighbours, to ensure she was allowed to return safely to her apartment at 3 am. Police are yet to record her statement. Sharma confirmed she was in discussion with her lawyers on the future course of action and legal options. According to Sharma, on October 25, around 2.15am, Sharma had called the security guard, Arun, on the intercom and asked him to fetch a pack of cigarettes. Sharma said when Arun refused to comply, she came down to the lobby and beat him up for not complying with her demand. Thereafter, she said, she dialled the police control room and complained about Arun’s misbehaviour.
When the police team comprising of three men arrived in a few minutes, they asked Sharma to lodge a complaint at the police station. Sharma refused to go to the police station, claiming the police were violating the Supreme Court guidelines, which exempt women from being physically present at the police station from 6 pm to 6 am and state a woman cannot be arrested without her lawyer and the presence of a policewoman.
Sharma said, "My fight was with the watchman and those cops who did not allow me to go back, forcibly holding the elevator door open, even after I told them I would visit the police station the next morning. Police kept asking me to come to the police station at that odd hour. When I saw there was no way out of this deadlock, I got frustrated and as a last resort, I began to strip."
Subsequently, police allowed Sharma to go home and left the building premises. However, the incident did not end there and Sharma tweeted to the Mumbai Police Twitter handle complaining about the police action. Sharma said, “I want action to be taken against the policemen who were harassing me to go to the police station with them. They only registered an NC complaint and refused to file an FIR against the police personnel.”
When asked why the policemen were asking her to visit a police station after 6 pm and violating the SC guidelines, Shailesh Pasalwad, senior police inspector of Oshiwara police station refused to comment and said, “We have taken a complaint in the case and are investigating it. The case will move ahead after the statements of both parties are recorded.”