MUMBAI: A private school van driver was arrested on Saturday for allegedly groping and touching three minor schoolgirls inappropriately under the pretext of helping them get into the van. The 48-year-old accused was arrested from his Santacruz (West) residence by the Juhu police on Saturday. He was remanded to police custody after being presented in a city court.
The incident happened on Nov 13, and a complaint was registered with Santacruz police on Nov 15, after one of the minors narrated the incident to her mother. Taking the matter seriously, the case was registered, and soon after receiving the case file, the Juhu police arrested the accused as the offence occurred in their jurisdiction. “The van does not belong to the school and is a private vehicle that picks up students from outside the school,” said the police.“The driver molested three schoolgirls aged 8, 9, and 11 while picking them up from a private school in Juhu on Nov 13. He has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 75 (assault or criminal force to a woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and under the Pocso Act section 8,” said a police officer of Juhu police station.The case came to light after one of the minors recounted the incident to her mother and referred to the ‘good touch and bad touch’. In the complaint, the 11-year-old’s mother said: “My daughter informed me about the incident on Nov 15. She said the driver molested her while he picked her up to get into the van parked outside the school gate.”A police officer said the accused driver first groped the 11-year-old and then touched her inappropriately. “The victim also informed her mother that the driver molested her two friends, aged 8 and 9, with bad touch,” said the officer.
