Mumbai, Apr 28 (Mid-day) : In an act that brings disgrace to the hallowed institution they are a part of, five Indian Navy cadets molested a 25-year-old housewife at a Bandra pub on Saturday night. Enraged at being thrown out of the pub, the cadets pursued the victim and her friends from Bandra to Borivli in an auto before being arrested mid-chase.
When her husband complained, the cadets were made to leave Hawaiian Shack. File pic
When her husband complained, the cadets were made to leave Hawaiian Shack. File pic
Late on Saturday night, the 25-year-old Vapi-based woman went to Hawaiian Shack in Bandra (West) with her husband and a friend. She was dancing with her husband when the five cadets, aged between 25 and 29, misbehaved with her. The husband complained to the pub management and the cadets were let off with a warning.
This did not deter the cadets, however, and they touched the woman inappropriately again. Bouncers swung into action this time around and evicted the cadets around 12.15 am. Infuriated, the five cadets decided to lie in wait for the woman. The Khar police said the pub downed shutters at 1.30 am and the woman came out ten minutes later.
The cadets accosted the woman and her husband and a heated argument followed. This attracted the attention of the bouncers again, and they asked all involved to leave. The woman and her husband left for Borivli in an auto rickshaw while their friend boarded another for Powai.
Hot pursuit
The five accused promptly got into two autos and began chasing the woman. They made one unsuccessful attempt to stop the woman’s auto near the Western Express Highway in Bandra and then managed to get close again in Vile Parle.
They held on to the auto’s rod and screamed at the driver to stop the vehicle. The woman called the police soon after. Around 4 am, when the woman reached Borivli on the highway with the cadets still in hot pursuit, the police arrived on the scene and caught the five men red-handed.
A case was registered with the Kasturba Marg police and transferred to the Khar police as the incident had occurred in their jurisdiction. The cadets were brought to the Khar police station at 7 am.
Officerspeak
PSI Kalpana Suryawanshi from Khar police station said, “The accused are Maheshwar Mahendra Singh (26), Tirthlal Dilpanath (25), Ashish Jai Kishan (29), Shyam Bhandare (29), and Chandan Mishra (26).
They have been charged under sections 143 (unlawful assembly), 146 (rioting), 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of IPC.
They were produced in the Bandra court on Sunday and remanded to police custody till April 29. All five are class IV officers of the Indian Navy and work in the electronics department.” The Hawaiian Shack management was not available for comment despite repeated attempts.