Deaf-mute man molests disabled woman and assaults her husband, held

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The Vakola police have booked a 23-year-old speech and hearing impaired man and his brother for molesting a speech and hearing impaired woman and assaulting her husband and two others on being confronted about the sexual harassment.

The incident occurred on February 18 around 7.30 pm, when the woman was on her way back home. The accused grabbed her and hugged her. When the woman reached her house, she narrated the ordeal to her husband, who is also speech and hearing impaired. Her husband and two other relatives then went to the accused's home to confront him.

When they did so, instead of accepting his crime, the accused, along with his brother Avinash Jadhav, began assaulting them. The woman and her husband then approached the Vakola police, but due to the lack of an interpreter there were unable to convey what had happened.

A source from Vakola police said, "Finding an interpreter was a tough job. This is the first time in four years that this police station has seen such a case. The interpreter also took some time to come, as they have their regular jobs and other schedules to attend. We had to approach various people and a few NGOs."

The cops found a woman interpreter, who helped them to understand what had transpired. Officers then registered a case of molestation and assault and arrested the main accused. Another police source said, "The accused have been booked under sections 354, 323, 324, 504 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code. The main accused has been arrested and produced in court and remanded in police custody till February 27. However, his brother, who is also supposedly speech and hearing impaired, is still at large."

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