The Mangaluru Police have arrested Mohammed Azwan (32), a native of Mudipu, on the charge of sexually assaulting a 21-year-old Mysuru-based woman and cheating her of ₹35 lakh.
A team of policemen traced Azwan in a hideout in Choodasandra in Bengaluru at around noon on Thursday and brought him to the city.
In a complaint lodged with the Women Police Station here on Wednesday, the victim said that she came in contact with Azwan in Mysuru in 2019 where he worked in a mobile recharging shop. He identified himself as Sharat and after promising to marry her he sexually assaulted her several times. He also took from her a total of ₹35 lakh on different occasions and operated two eateries in Mysuru and Hunsur.
In the course of their relationship, he revealed his original identity and said that he cannot marry her as he was already married to another woman. He deserted the woman and also did not return the money which the victim had given him after taking it from her family members, friends and private financiers.
On September 21, the woman came to the house of the accused in Mudipu where she was reportedly assaulted and thrown out. People saw her sitting in a bus shelter at Konaje and shedding tears and they informed Emergency Response Support System 112.
The police brought her to the Konaje Police Station, where, after a counselling session, she revealed about the sexual harassment meted out to her and also cheating by Azwan.
The victim told the police that she will file a complaint in Mysuru. Finding that she did not have money to travel, the police inspector arranged for a ticket and told the bus driver and conductor to safely take her to Mysuru.
However, soon after, on consultation with her lawyer and a few activists in Mangaluru, the victim filed the complaint with the Women Police Station after meeting Police Commissioner N. Shashi Kumar. “Special teams worked together and took into custody the accused from a hideout in Bengaluru,” Mr. Kumar told reporters on Thursday.
Denying a charge that the victim was ill-treated by Konaje Police on Tuesday, Mr. Kumar said that the police patiently heard her and as per her wish, arranged for her safe travel to Mysuru. “I personally spoke to her Wednesday and she had nice words to say about Konaje Police. She then went to file the complaint with the Women Police Station,” Mr. Kumar said.
The police have booked the accused under Section 376 (sexual harassment), 384 (extortion) and 323 (voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.
Published - September 23, 2021 07:10 pm IST
