Ghaziabad: Cops sexually harass Noida woman, booked

The accused allegedly held the couple captive for nearly three hours and subjected them to harassment, the police added

A 22-year-old woman from Noida was allegedly sexually harassed by three men, including a police constable, while visiting a forest in Ghaziabad with her fiancé on September 16, police officers aware of the matter said on Sunday.

Two accused have been identified as constable Rakesh Kumar and home guard Digambar Kumar, while the third is yet to be identified. All three of them are absconding since September 28, police said (Representative Image)

The accused allegedly held the couple captive for nearly three hours and subjected them to harassment, the police added.

Two accused have been identified as constable Rakesh Kumar and home guard Digambar Kumar, while the third is yet to be identified. All three of them are absconding since September 28, police said.

The incident came to light on September 28, when the woman decided to file an FIR after the suspects persistently harassed her through phone calls and even visited her home.

The woman and her fiancé, who had come to meet her from Bulandshahr, went for an outing together to Sai Upvan city forest. They were sitting together in the forest, which is adjacent to the Hindon metro station and along the GT Road.

Sai Upvan has a presence of dense forestry and listed as the city forest under Master Plan 2021.

The woman in her FIR said, “It was around noon when three men arrived on a PRV and started threatening us. They slapped my fiance and one of them demanded ₹10,000 to let us go. We requested them with folded hands and even touched their feet but they did not budge. Later, Rakesh Kumar started to force himself on me. The unidentified man also demanded ₹5.5 lakh.”

“We were held there for three hours during which the suspects repeatedly touched me inappropriately.” the woman further stated in the FIR.

The woman also said that the harassment persisted even after the couple digitally paid ₹1,000 to the accused. Their ordeal continued even after that as Rakesh Kumar called her up on September 19, and she recorded their conversation to keep it as an evidence. After finding out that she lodged a complaint against them, he also visited her residence on September 22.

Upon compliant, the three were booked under IPC sections 354a (1)(ii) for physical contact and advances involving explict sexual overtures and demand for sexual favours, 323 for voluntarily causing hurt, 504 for intentional insult and 342 for wrongful confinement besides levying the provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act at Kotwali police station on September 28.

The police said that based on investigation, they will also levy the provisions of the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act if any of the suspects do not belong to the same category.

“We have registered an FIR after the incident of harassment came to light with the couple. Of the three men, Rakesh was identified as the police constable on PRV and has been suspended. The second one was identified as home guard and we have written to his department to initiate action. The third person will be identified soon. The three are absconding and we will arrest them soon,” said Nimish Patil, ACP (city 1).

The woman initially did not report the incident but reached out to the police emergency number when the suspects persisted in troubling her, the ACP added.