Mumbai man held for molesting Irish reporter, gets bail

An Irish reporter was allegedly molested by a hotel employee at Colaba. The staffer was arrested on Monday by the police, after a complaint was lodged by the victim.

Nilesh Shirke, 26, works at Hotel Seashore in Colaba. Police sources said the victim (name withheld) works for a magazine in Ireland. She had come to the city to do travel related stories.

“On Sunday, the victim, who was put up at Hotel Seashore, was coming down from the staircase where Shirke saw her and made obscene gestures, said obscene things and molested her,” said an officer from Colaba police station.

The officer added that the next day the victim went for dinner at Hotel Indigo and as she left the hotel at around 1am, she asked one of the hotel staffers from Indigo to accompany her. The staffer took her to Hotel Seashore, where Shirke accosted them and started an argument with the staffer, the police said.

“He told the staffer that he is not allowed inside Hotel Seashore premises without proper permission. Shirke again said obscene things to the victim and fled. The victim then decided to lodge a complaint,” the officer said.

“A case under section 509, for outraging the modesty of a woman, was registered against Shirke,” said the officer. Shirke was produced before a local court on Tuesday and released on bail on payment of Rs5,000, he said.