A 17-year-old girl has alleged that she was sexually harassed by a police constable from Mundhwa police station. While the incident occurred on November 27, the cop, Vikas Musale, was arrested and an FIR lodged against him on Saturday.

The girl, a Class XII student, alleged that she was in Mundhwa with a friend at 1.30 am on Tuesday when two constables in a police van spotted them. They asked the duo what they were doing there so late and asked them to call their parents. Afraid to call her mother at that time, the girl dialled a friend’s number and had him speak to the cops, posing as her father. Finally, asking several questions, cops said they would drop the duo to their respective homes. They were taken to the van and driven to the girl’s house first. By this time, it was 2.15 am and Musale took her into the society, while his colleague remained in the van with the girl’s friend.

As the survivor and Musale reached the fourth floor, she asked Musale to leave, but he told that he would wait till her mother answered the door. She refused, but he persisted. The girl further stated in her complaint that as she cried and continued ask-ing him to leave, Musale sexually harassed her and then warned her not to tell anyone.

Traumatised, the girl called her school principal the next day and narrated the entire incident. The principal then took her to the school counsellor and they also held a meeting with her family. Finally, on Saturday, they lodged a complaint at Mundhwa police station. Accordingly, police booked Musale under sections 354 and 506 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and relevant sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.

Speaking to Mirror, a police officer, requesting anonymity, said that they have got multiple pieces of evidences against Musale.

“When we made inquiries, we found out that the electricity went off in the society at the time of the incident. It is also suspicious that it took 30 minutes for the constable to come out. He could have dropped the girl at home and returned, but we suspect that he took advantage of the dark. We have written to the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL and gotten the details.”

Musale was arrested and produced in court on Saturday. Advocates Vijaysinh Thombare, Rupali Thombare and Pushkar Patil represented him. In court, Thombare said, “There are CCTV cameras on every floor of the society, including the parking and lobby areas. Surprisingly, when police asked for the footage, the security guard stated that they had lost coverage from 1 am to 6 am. It is clear that the complainant and her family have tampered with the footage. The whole case is suspicious. The accused is an honest policeman who protected the complainant and dropped her back home safely.”

The court remanded Musale to one day in police custody.

When Mirror contacted the girl’s mother, she refused to comment, saying it was a time of great disturbance and turmoil for the family.

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