Lonavala resort owner arrested for molesting, harassing minor girl
Owner of a high-profile resort in Lonavala arrested for allegedly molesting and sexually harassing a minor girl from Ghatkopar; case registered under IPC and POCSO Act.
MUMBAI: The police on Wednesday arrested the owner of a high-profile resort in Lonavala for allegedly molesting and sexually harassing a minor girl from Ghatkopar. The girl alleged that the accused had been sending her vulgar messages on her WhatsApp since December 2022.
According to the police, the girl’s parents run a tours and travel business in Ghatkopar. The girl’s mother, for the past two years, has been visiting the Lonavala resort to meet the accused for business purposes and the girl used to accompany her.
The 56-year-old accused started sending vulgar messages to the girl, even after she objected to it many times. She once blocked him, but he allegedly threatened her that her act would negatively affect her mother’s business, which had scared the girl, said a police official.
Last week, the businessman, allegedly kissed the minor when she met him in a restaurant in a Ghatkopar mall when her mother left the two together to go to the washroom.
The girl claimed that the accused insisted that she should come with him to a hotel. Traumatized, the girl later narrated the entire incident to her parents. She also said that the accused was harassing her by making video calls to her.
The girl and her parents then approached the Pant Nagar police and based on her statement a case was registered under sections 354 (outraging modesty of a woman), 354D (stalking), 506 (criminal intimidation) of the Indian Penal Code, and relevant sections of the POCSO Act.