Teen’s father says Navy sepoy assaulted him

A 45-year-old Indian Navy man was arrested for allegedly molesting a 17-year-old girl and assaulting her father on Wednesday.

A 45-year-old Indian Navy man was arrested for allegedly molesting a 17-year-old girl and assaulting her father on Wednesday.

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Sepoy Vikramsinh Uddamsinh, attached to the Defence Security Corps of the Indian Navy, and posted at INS Shikara at Colaba, was allegedly drunk at the time, police said.

The girl’s father, who registered the police complaint, said it happened near the Colaba fire brigade at 9.30 pm on Tuesday, when he and his daughter were walking back home after he had shut his garment shop in the Colaba market area.

Police records say as the two were passing by the INS Shikara gates, Uddamsinh began following the girl at a distance, then touched her inappropriately.

When her 50-year-old father objected, the Navy man hit him hard on the chest, and he fell to the ground.

“The accused, who seemed to be drunk, even tried to pull the girl inside the INS Shikara’s gates,” said a neighbour, who
was later narrated the story by the father.

The victim’s father reportedly then raised an alarm, which drew more then 20 locals to the site. On seeing this, Uddamsinh went back inside the gates.

“When we asked the Navy guard posted at the gates to bring Uddamsinh out, he called at least 20 other Navy men, who
threatened to shoot us with their guns if we didn’t leave. When we refused, they hit two of us with the butts of the rifles,” said Vikramsing Rajpurohit, one of the locals.

Police Sub-Inspector Sachin More of the Colaba police station said: “We are recording statements of the accused, victim and witnesses.”

Captain Manohar Nambiar, the Navy’s chief public relations officer, said: “The accused has been handed over to the police
for investigation.”

Another witness said: “When the police arrived, the Navy did not allow them to enter the gates and arrest the accused”.
The witnesses said the delay in making the arrest increased tension in the area. Additional personnel from nearby police stations were deployed to keep the situation under control.

“He was finally arrested at 2 am,” said Suresh Naik, another witness.

While the locals alleged Uddamsinh was in uniform at the time, police said he was dressed in civilian clothes at the time of his arrest.