Police officer arrested for alleged sexual harassment of a woman

Representative image/file

Proceedings were initiated against a police A senior official allegedly sexually harassed a woman in Maharashtra’s Bhandara district on the pretext of helping her with a case, a senior official said on Saturday, PTI reported.

Based on a complaint filed by the woman, the case was registered against Sub Divisional Police Officer (SDPO) Ashok Bagul at Bhandara town police station on Friday evening, he said.

According to PTI, Police Commissioner Lohit Matani confirmed the registration of the case against the SDPO.

According to police, the woman belongs to the Scheduled Caste category and lives in Lakhani tehsil of Bhandara district in Maharashtra. While studying engineering in Nagpur, she had a relationship with a young man a few years ago who promised to marry her. However, he recently refused to marry her after which she fell into depression and even attempted suicide, according to PTI.

The girl decided to complain against the man and along with her friend went to SDPO Bagul’s office. However, the officer asked the woman to meet him later alone to discuss the issue.

When she met him on June 1, he allegedly demanded sexual favors from her, police added.

Under pressure, the woman then approached a social worker who along with some others met SP Matani and handed her a letter describing her ordeal and demanding strict action against SDPO Bagul, it said.

Based on the complaint, the police filed an FIR against the SDPO under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections 354 (A) (sexual harassment) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), police said.

The investigation in this case is being led by police inspector Subhash Barse.

Woman alleges rape on board express train in Thane; case registered

Meanwhile, in another incident last month, an unidentified man was charged with allegedly beating and raping a woman in an express train in Maharashtra’s Thane district, a Government Railway Police (GRP) official earlier told PTI.

The victim claims that she was travelling on the Tulsi Express towards Uttar Pradesh on March 10 when an unidentified person administered a noxious substance to her to make her unconscious and allegedly raped her, the official said, according to PTI.

According to PTI, the woman claimed that the attack took place 40 minutes after the train departed from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in Kurla in Mumbai and arrived at Thane railway station.

(with PTI inputs)