In the first week of July this year, a horrific video from Pathardi town of Ahmednagar district had gone viral over social media in which a man could be seen harassing two minor girls on the busy streets of the main market. OpIndia on July 12 obtained the FIR copy of the incident which revealed that the two girls were inappropriately touched and thrashed by the accused person who has been identified as Rafiq Munir Pathan.
Rafik Pathan arrested for molesting a girl in broad daylight in ahmednagar maharashtra. pic.twitter.com/fM5NEfpQ5y
— Vikash Singh (@iSinghVikash) July 3, 2023
The incident is said to have happened on July 1 in the Hanuman Takli village. Two minor girls were blocked by the accused who held one of the girl’s hands, forcefully touched her inappropriately, and publicly harassed her. He also thrashed the girls and threatened their grandfather over the phone.
The accused has now been arrested and has been booked under sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 ( punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 427, and 506 (Criminal Intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code. Sections of POCSO have also been imposed upon the accused.
As per the complaint copy obtained by OpIndia, the victim girl and her sister were at the Tisgaon Bus Station. The victim was on her way to the Ahmednagar district for her NEET classes. Her younger sister had come to the station to drop her off. The accused man approached the girl who was standing on the road at the bus stand square waiting for her sister who had gone to the nearby general store to buy some items.
The accused held the hands of the younger victim girl and forcefully engaged his fingers in her hair. As she started yelling, her sister rushed to help but she was also molested by Rafiq. He pulled the girl closer and began to touch her inappropriately, holding her hair. When the younger girl confronted him, he pulled her hair and also thrashed her.
The victim girl then called her grandfather from the spot to seek help. When she was narrating what had happened, the accused snatched her mobile phone and threatened her grandfather. “You come here, I’ll show you,” he said as mentioned in the complaint. After that, he smashed the phone on the road. Later he fled from the spot as the girls started making loud noises seeking help from the people around.
After talking to the locals, the girls learnt that his name is Rafiq Munir Pathan. Following that, they went to the police station and lodged a complaint.
OpIndia called one of the victim girls for her comment on the issue but she was unavailable. However, the grandfather of the victim minor said that the girls were brutally harassed by the accused person and that now he has been arrested.
Earlier, Rupali Chakankar, President of the State Commission for Women had taken cognizance of the event and had demanded strict action against the accused. “This type of harassment of girls on the street in broad daylight is serious and worrisome for the safety of girls. The State Commission for Women has directed the Superintendent of Police, Ahmednagar to conduct an immediate inquiry and submit a factual report,” she tweeted on July 3.
सदर घटनेच्या अनुषंगाने पाथर्डी पोलीस स्टेशन येथे गु.र.न.६८९/२०२३ प्रमाणे गुन्हा दाखल करण्यात आला असून सदर गुन्ह्यातील आरोपी यास अटक करण्यात आले आहे.
— Ahmednagar Police (अहमदनगर पोलीस) (@NagarPolice) July 3, 2023
The Ahmednagar Police had then responded to this video saying that the accused had been booked at Pathardi Police Station under the relevant sections of the law and that he had been arrested by the authorities.
