A tourist was allegedly molested and her family members were attacked by a group of men at Bhavali Dam in Nashik district of Maharashtra over the weekend. On Tuesday, police arrested nine people in connection with the incident.
The accused mob, who were reportedly armed with iron rods and baseball bats, were following the SUV in which the 44-year-old woman was traveling with her family members, news agency PTI reported.
The group managed to stop the car and harassed the woman, while they assaulted her husband.
After leaving the place, the family rushed to Igatpuri police station and filed a complaint and also submitted a video of the incident to the police.
A case of harassment, attempted murder and dacoity was registered against the mob. Nine people have been arrested in connection with the incident, Nashik Rural Police Superintendent Dr DS Swamy said, adding that all of them are from Girnari, Nandgaon Sadhu, Manikhamb villages and other nearby areas.
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“6-7 other miscreants have also been identified through the video footage,” the SP said, adding that one of the accused, identified as Bhoir, had a murder case registered against him in 2020-2021. Swamy said further investigations are underway in this case.
The SUV was chased, and the family was attacked with iron bars and baseball bats
The woman, who was on a family outing to a waterfall near the dam with her husband, son, daughter, son-in-law and two nephews, was harassed by two young men who whistled at her.
Her family members intervened after the incident, as the miscreants allegedly assaulted them and tore the woman’s clothes. According to the police complaint, the accused also took away the woman’s mobile phone and when her husband tried to take back the device, they snatched the 20-gram gold chain he was wearing and beat him up, PTI reported.
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Following the confrontation, when the family left the scene in their SUV, a group of eight to nine people followed in a car and on a motorcycle. They overtook the complainant’s car and blocked their road. The miscreants, carrying iron bars and baseball bats, smashed the windshield of the family’s car and forced the woman out of the car, the agency reported.
The mob then harassed the woman and tried to hit her in the head with a baseball bat, but she evaded the blow, according to her complaint.
