Minor assaulted in Mumbai: State women's commission seeks police report, expresses anguish over bail to accused

Mumbai: The Maharashtra State Commission for Women on Monday sought a probe report from the city police commissioner over an incident where a girl was thrashed by a man when she asked him and his friends not to make noise.

#BREAKING - A minor girl was sexually assaulted in Mumbai's Nehru Nagar. Onlookers watched in silence. pic.twitter.com/3Du35wgLBV

— News18 (@CNNnews18) October 21, 2017

The incident, which took place in suburban Kurla last week, was captured by CCTV cameras and the video went viral. Vijaya Rahatkar, chairperson of the commission, on Monday sent a letter to police commissioner Dattatrey Padsalgikar, expressing anguish over the fact that the accused got bail immediately after his arrest. “Through various media reports the commission has come to know that a minor girl was thrashed repeatedly by a Nehru Nagar resident Imran Shaikh….But, most unfortunately, when girl’s relatives filed complaint against the accused, prima-facie it seems that suitable action was not taken and the accused got bail and even the statement of the victim was not recorded,” the letter said. “Considering the gravity of the incident, you are directed to send a report to the commission immediately,” Rahatkar said in the letter. On 17 October, a 16-year-old girl was left with a fractured nose after a man hit her repeatedly for asking him and his friends not to argue loudly among themselves. Imran Shaikh, the accused, was arrested on the day of the incident, but was later granted bail by a local court. The incident took place near SRA Building in Shramjeevi Nagar around 7 pm when the girl was going to a tuition with a friend. After a video of the incident went viral, police pressed additional charge of molestation against Shaikh and arrested him again on Saturday. He is in police custody.