'People saw me being troubled by this man but continued walking'

The woman was on her usual morning walk at Carter Road when the incident occurred. Representation pic/Getty Images

Walking in broad daylight also seems to have become unsafe for women, as a 28-year-old senior researcher found out at Carter Road on Friday. She was on her usual morning walk, when she was pulled into the bushes and allegedly molested by a drunk man. The researcher screamed for help, but passers-by on the track looked at her and pretended to not hear her. She somehow managed to escape from the drunkard's grasp and approach the Khar police, who later registered a complaint against the intoxicated accused, and arrested him within half an hour.

The Khar west resident was out on a walk at Carter Road at 6:30 am with her brother. She was walking behind him as she couldn't keep up with his pace because she is asthmatic. When she neared the dog park, she saw a man who looked intoxicated wonkily walking ahead of her. She politely asked him to walk on one side, but the man looked at her angrily and continued to walk in the same manner. He also kept turning to look at her.

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The woman sensed something amiss with his gaze and decided to walk faster to get ahead of him. But that didn't help either. "He pushed me into the bushes and put his right hand over my neck, trying to get closer and kiss me," the complainant said. She screamed for help, but no one came forward to help her. "People looked into the bushes and saw me being troubled by this intoxicated man but they didn't even try to help me and continued on their way. A man was jogging there and he saw me being harassed. I requested him to inform the police and yet he pretended not to listen to me," she added.

She somehow managed to push him aside and flee. She then approached the Khar police, who were patrolling the area. The cops and her brother came back to the spot and tried to look for the accused, but he had fled by then.

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She went to the Khar police station to register a complaint. "The police were very supportive and comforted me when I was traumatised," she said. A complaint was filed under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of IPC.

Senior inspector Daya Nayak from Khar police station said, "After receiving the complaint, teams were deployed at the location and the accused was nabbed within half an hour. He was completely drunk at the time of the arrest. He used to come to Carter Road every day." The accused has been identified as Mohammed Naushad Ahmed, who works as a mason. He was put behind bars at 8:30 am. Cops said the case will now be sent to court.

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