Thane: Event organiser, 4 others booked for ‘molesting’ host

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Thane's Chitalsar Manpada police have registered a first information report (FIR) based on a complaint filed by a woman who alleged that she was molested by several people during a party organised at a hotel.

According to the complaint, the alleged incident took place at De Aura Global Dining and Bar in Thane, as per the FIR, on September 21. A complaint was filed on September 30.

The 35-year-old woman, a resident of Goregaon, was the host of the event where the alleged incident took place. She was approached via a Facebook group, namely ‘Professional People's Business & Parties Mumbai's Group.'

According to the woman, after joining the group, she received a text from a man named Nitin Thorat on Facebook Messenger. The woman said that Thorat, who identified as an event organiser, sent her a WhatsApp link to join multiple groups.

Throat was promoting an event on social media, offering attractive prices. The woman was enticed with the promise of receiving 50 per cent of the total bill generated from the event.

The woman said that she later received multiple texts from Thorat on September 17 and 18, in which he shared the details of the work and also met him on September 19.

During the meeting, Thorat told her that she would be required to host an event on September 21, and her role would involve entertaining guests, encouraging them to order expensive food and drinks, and she would get 50 per cent of the total bill generated.

The woman agreed to the terms, however, on the evening of the event, she claimed that Thorat took her onto the dance floor and began touching her inappropriately, and later others also joined him.

Feeling uncomfortable, the woman confronted Thorat, who dismissed her concerns and asked her to ignore the behaviour. The woman said that she approached the police on September 30 and registered an FIR. Chitalsar Manpada police confirmed that based on the woman's complaint, Thorat and three others have been booked under sections 74, 75(2), and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, and an investigation into the matter has been launched.

Meanwhile, Thorat claimed the charges to be baseless and said that the woman was so intoxicated on the night of the event that he himself had gone to drop her off.

He also questioned her intentions, claiming that if the alleged incident took place on September 21, then why was the complaint registered nine days later. "None of the members had any ill intentions, nor did anyone act improperly. She consumed alcohol and now seems to want to defame us with the intent of blackmail," Thorat claimed.