Sexual crime: Music teacher molested by tow operators for Thane cops

Representational picture

The Kapurbawadi police have arrested four people working as tow truck operators for the Thane traffic police for sexually harassing a 21-year-old music teacher and throwing a fiber pipe on her and an autorickshaw driver. The four accused are Rakesh Jha, who was driving the van and Shamshad Khan, Durvesh Jadhav and Ramesh Patel, who were seated behind. According to the police, the incident occurred on Monday, after the woman boarded an autorickshaw to go home around 5.30 pm. When she reached near the Brahman signal, the van came to the right side of the rickshaw.

Continued harassment
"Jha started making untoward gestures at the girl. When the rickshaw driver Rahul Mishra asked him why he was doing so, three people standing behind Jha started yelled expletives and continued to molest the girl," said a police officer from Kapurbawadi police station.

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"The girl claims Jha began teasing her and later, one of the three also threw a fibre pipe on them, which hit her and Mishra. The girl then registered a case," said AB Jadhav, PSI, Kapurbawadi police station. The girl also asked cops to register a case against a traffic constable, who was present in the van.

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"All four were produced in court on Tuesday. We also interrogated the traffic constable, who claims to be unaware of the incident as it took place behind, while he was sitting ahead," Jadhav added.

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'Take precaution'
Sunil Lokhande, DCP, Zone 5, said, "We have informed the traffic department to stay updated about the towing truck operators' background, so that such incidents don't occur in the future."

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