65-year-old retired banker arrested for molesting 16-year-old boy in hotel

A 65-year-old retired bank executive was arrested for allegedly touching a 16-year-old boy inappropriately during a cycling expedition from Mumbai to Goa.

MUMBAI: A 65-year-old retired private bank executive was arrested for allegedly touching a 16-year-old boy inappropriately at a posh hotel in Colaba. According to the police officials, the senior citizen and the young boy were part of a cycling expedition from Mumbai to Arambol (Goa) and were sharing the hotel room where the incident was reported.

HT Image

The police said the accused is a resident of Delhi’s Lajpat Nagar and an avid marathoner.

According to the Colaba police, the incident took place on January 20 when eleven people, including the minor boy - a resident of a city in Western Maharashtra, and the accused had come for a cycling expedition.

“They stayed in the posh Colaba hotel and were supposed to travel from Mumbai to Goa on cycles. The participants of the expedition shared rooms and under the arrangement, the accused and the minor boy stayed in a room,” said a police officer.

“Around 2am, the accused started touching the minor boy inappropriately. The teen opposed his advances, and despite that, he continued the act. Finally, when the accused was reprimanded by the youth, he slept on another sofa,” the officer added.

The teenager informed the organisers about the incident, and they changed their rooms. On January 27, when the expedition reached Goa, the youth informed his father about the incident when they met at a resort. The father then took the 16-year-old to a nearby police station and a case was registered at the Mandrem police station in Goa, the officer added.

The case was later transferred to the Colaba police. “We have re-registered a case under sections 8 (punishment for sexual assault) and 12 (punishment for sexual harassment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012. The accused was given notice after which he appeared before the police and was placed under arrest. A court later sent him to judicial custody,” said the police officer from Colaba police station.