Unknown men arrested for stalking and harassing schoolgirls in Wadala | Mumbai News

MUMBAI: Police on Friday arrested unidentified men in their mid-20s for harassing and harassing minor girls outside their school campus and a nearby bus stand in Wadala.

“The victims, aged between 13 and 15, were followed by the men after school. The men made obscene gestures at them and even tried to hold their hands. When the girls protested, they threatened them,” said an officer.

After continuously facing this ordeal, the teenage girls filed a complaint with the school management, who then approached the Rafi Ahmed Kidwai Marg police in Sewri. “We have registered a case under sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force against women with intent to outrage her modesty), 79 (word, gesture or act intended to outrage the modesty of a woman), 78 (stalking) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offenses Act (POCSO) Act sections 8 punishment for sexual assault and 12 punishment for sexual harassment,” said an officer.

During their investigation, police found that the girls had been harassed for days. The men even grabbed the girls after school and forced them to come along. “We have launched a manhunt to trace the suspects and scan the cameras installed on the route,” the officer said.