Two minors who were home alone sexually harassed by neighbour

Accused has been booked under the POCSO Act. Representation pic

Two minor girls aged 12 and 15 years were allegedly sexually harassed by their 38-year-old neighbour while they were home alone after school in Bandra West on Wednesday.

The girls had gone to school for a Children's Day function and had returned home on Wednesday morning when one of the two girls first encountered the accused standing outside their house, said a relative of the girls.

The man was later caught by one of the relatives of the girls who later called the police which booked him under the Protection of Children Against Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act and the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sahita (BNS).

According to the FIR filed by the father of the minor girls, on November 14 at around 11 am, both of his daughters had returned home from their school and were alone at their residence in Bandra. The father of the girls was at work while the mother had been ill and was hospitalised for the past three days. He told the police that his 12-year-old daughter had stepped outside the house for some work and spotted the man, their neighbour, standing outside. The man began to make inappropriate gestures towards her. The act made the girl frightened, and she immediately ran back inside her house.

Seeing the girl traumatised, her 15-year-old sister asked her the reason and she pointed outside the house, the FIR stated.

The sister then stepped outside the house to check and found that their neighbour was still there with his pants half down. When she confronted him about his gesture towards her sister, the man allegedly flashed his private parts at her too, leaving her traumatised, the FIR stated.

She ran inside the house and called up her aunt who resides close by. She narrated the incident to her, who then made a call to the girl's uncle.

Meanwhile, a neighbour of the girls suspected something amiss following the brief commotion between one of the girls and the man. The neighbour called their father and suggested checking with the girls if everything was all right with them.

The father of the girls told the police that he later rushed to his residence after which he learnt about the incident and then reached out to the police along with one of the relatives who also lives in the same building.

A police officer said, "Following the complaint, the man was immediately detained and was later placed under arrest. He was produced before a court on Thursday and remanded in police custody."

The relatives of the girls said the incident has left them traumatised. He said that one of the girls who is a Std X student was shivering and was still scared.
Sources said that the man is currently unemployed and had some years ago returned to India from abroad.