Accused got angry when the traffic constable stopped the vehicle, started abusing, grabbing her hand. Shocked, the lady began shouting, attracting a crowd, who took him to the police station
In yet another incident highlighting lack of women’s safety in the city, a passenger in a share-a-rickshaw molested a female traffic constable while she was on duty.
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The incident occurred on Thursday night when the female traffic constable, attached to the Borivli police station, stopped a share-a-rickshaw at Chandavarkar lane in Borivli (West). She said that when she noticed a rickshaw with five passengers — more than the law states — she stopped the rickshaw. The constable got even more suspicious when she saw a woman sitting in the middle and asked the driver to stop.
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She said that while she was asking the driver, one of the co-passengers, Manoj Natha Solanki (24), got angry that she had stopped the rickshaw and started saying that traffic constables only caused trouble and were looking for money. When the argument between Solanki and the traffic constable got heated, Solanki alighted from the rickshaw and caught her hand and started hurling abuses at her.
Shocked at what was happening, the woman traffic constable started to shout and soon people gathered around the rickshaw and took Solanki to the police station.
Senior Inspector Narayan Khaire of Borivli police station said, “The accused, who was inebriated, was arrested and charged under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from duty), 354 (molestation) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).”
When mid-day spoke to the traffic constable, she said, “It is sad and shocking that even people in uniform are not safe. It was only because of passersby that I was able to take him to the station and file a complaint.”