A 12-year-old girl in Mumbai got her 65-year-old neighbour arrested on Tuesday for sexually harassing her by making obscene gestures which the girl recorded and submitted to the police.
Officers said the accused had retired after working at the post office.
According to the police complaint filed by the girl’s mother, the accused lived on the same floor of their residential building in Mumbai. As per the First Information Report (FIR), the incident took place in May. The minor was standing in the building’s common passage area on the second floor when the accused made obscene gestures at her.
It was also alleged that accused once touched her legs in an inappropriate manner while she was attending tuition classes at a neighbour’s place. The girl informed her mother about the incident but was not taken seriously, prompting her to record a video of the accused as he made obscene gestures at her.
Shocked to see the video, the mother showed the clip to her husband, and the two approached the N M Joshi Marg police station along with the girl, said a police source.
The police acted swiftly and registered a case under sections 74 and 79 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and sections 8 and 12 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act against the accused.
The man was subsequently arrested and served a notice before he was released, said an officer. The police are currently checking if the accused has molested any other child in the neighbourhood.