Mumbai Crime: Driver who allegedly molested French national held after being spotted in ‘same T-shirt’

In a two-day-old case, police were successful in catching a driver of the CEO of a prominent private security firm, who allegedly molested a 21-year-old French national after following her to her doorstep. The Khar police arrested the driver after he was spotted wearing the same shirt he was wearing during the time of the crime.

According to a report in Mumbai Mirror, the incident took place on the night of March 21, when the 21-year-old French national, a student who is visiting India, was walking towards her rented accommodation in Khar (West). The accused driver who has been identified as Abdul Sirajuddin (27), spotted the victim while she was buying vegetables from a shop. He followed her on his scooter and later went up to her second-floor residence in the building. While the victim was unlocking, the door the accused groped her and molested her.

She then shouted for help, after which he fled away from the spot, but was captured by CCTV cameras in the building. Later, on March 22, the victim approached Khar police and registered an FIR. After investigating the matter, they scanned the CCTV in the vicinity and learned that he was wearing a checked shirt and was on a scooter.

A police official told the leading daily, “Since the incident had happened at night, the face of the accused and the registration number of the scooter were not clear. The police began to scan the CCTV footage on the route along which he was travelling, and finally, investigators managed to trace him to Andheri, his final halt. On investigating further, they found that he was a resident of Andheri (West).”

But three days later police spotted the accused wearing the same shirt he was wearing during time of the crime, and then the police arrested him. Abdul Sirajuddin was booked on charges of molestation and stalking. He was later produced in court where at first he was given police custody for a day and later sent to judicial custody.