Despite security, woman harassed near Kotla

A 28-year-old woman was allegedly harassed by a call centre employee near Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in central Delhi, HT reports.

A 28-year-old woman was allegedly harassed by a call centre employee near Feroz Shah Kotla stadium in central Delhi. The incident took place at a bus stop close to the National Gandhi Museum near Rajghat minutes before the cricket match between India and Pakistan began on Sunday morning, police said.

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What was shocking was that the incident happened despite there being heavy police deployment on the eve of the cricket match. A senior police officer said that the call centre employee was apprehended by some police personnel as soon as the victim raised an alarm.

The accused, later identified as Harender Singh, 25, was immediately taken to the IP Estate police station. He was booked under Section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Singh is a resident of Trilokpuri in east Delhi and works as a data operator at a Noida-based BPO. He has been arrested, said the officer.

According to the senior police officer, the woman, who lives in east Delhi, was waiting for her husband at the bus stop when Singh passed lewd remarks at her. "She had gone to Lajpat Nagar for shopping. Her husband had asked her to meet him at the bus stop near Gandhi museum. So she was waiting for him there after having arrived from Lajpat Nagar in a bus," said the officer.

At the bus stop, the officer said, Singh passed some lewd comments at her. At first, the woman ignored him. But when he continued harassing her, she approached a police officer who was standing a few yards away from the bus stop.

"The police officer immediately apprehended Singh and handed him over to the local police. Even though the woman refused to file a formal complaint regarding the incident, we registered a case and arrested him," added the senior officer.