French Consulate Female Staff Molested By Man On Scooter In Mumbai

Though the incident occurred around 12.25 am on November 8, the French consulate lodged a formal complaint only on November 14.

Police are probing whether Waghela, a scrap dealer from Dharavi, had been stalking the woman.

Source : ANI

A 27-year-old French woman working with the French consulate in Mumbai was molested by a scooter-borne man in Bandra West shortly after midnight on November 8. The woman was walking back to her residence after visiting a friend in Pali Hill, barely a kilometre away, when the accused began trailing her. He allegedly halted beside her, molested her, and then sped off, a TOI report said.

Though the incident occurred around 12.25 am on November 8, the French consulate lodged a formal complaint only on November 14. Investigators examined more than 50 CCTV camera feeds in the area before identifying the suspect as 25-year-old Sunil Waghela. Using the scooter’s registration number, Khar police arrested him from his home, located barely 100 metres from the Dharavi police station, on Saturday night, less than a day after the complaint was filed.

Police Probe Man Accused Of Molesting French Woman

Police are probing whether Waghela, a scrap dealer from Dharavi, had been stalking the woman and what he was doing in Bandra at that hour. “Some CCTV footage had been overwritten, but we recovered visuals showing him following the woman on a scooter. He stops next to her, molests her, and then rides off,” an officer said, adding that they suspect he had been tracking her for a few days.

An FIR was registered under BNS Section 74 for assault or criminal force to a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty. Following coordination with the French embassy, DCP (Zone IX) Dikshit Gedam constituted a special team led by ACP Adikrao Pol. The team, comprising officers Sanjeev Dhumal, Vaibhav Katkar, Bharat Satpute, Hanumant Kumbhare and Manik Ghogare, tracked the accused and laid a trap near his Dharavi residence.

Police said Waghela’s family and community members created a ruckus as he was taken into custody, but the team managed to disperse the crowd. He was produced before the holiday court in Bandra on Sunday and was remanded to police custody till Monday.