Airline staff gets molester arrested

MUMBAI: A woman in her thirties got a man arrested on molestation charge on Wednesday.

Vanessa D’Souza, 33, working with a private airline, was returning home from work on February 14, when she was allegedly molested by Tejas Parekh, 21. Around 5.45pm, D’Souza took an auto rickshaw for her home in Andheri. While she was waiting inside the auto at the Marol signal, Parekh on a motorcycle stopped to the left. After looking at her, he allegedly touched her. “He put his hand on my left leg and signalled me to sit on his bike,” said D’Souza.

D’Souza taken aback by the gesture took a few seconds to regain her composure. She immediately shifted to the right. “I was alone and afraid that he might cross his limits. I asked the driver to speed up,” she said. “I also realised that he might have done this to others. And I decided not to let him get away with this. I asked the auto driver to catch up with him so that I could take down the motorcycle number. He was wearing a helmet and there was no way I could identify him.”

Parekh got an inkling that D’Souza might be trying to take down his number. He tried to speed away but had to stop at the signal near Hotel Leela. “I noted down his motorcycle number,” she said.

On February 15, D’Souza lodged a complaint at Sahar police station. And Parekh was arrested on February 20 at 6.30pm. “We have charged him under Section 354(molestation) of the IPC,” said Dilip Patil, senior PI, Sahar police station.

D’Souza said she wanted to teach Parekh a lesson so that he stopped doing such things with other women. “I am also thankful to the Sahar police who took such quick action and booked him,” she said.