Police book unknown persons for sexually harassing Indore woman

Police in Indore filed a complaint against unknown persons on Monday evening after the woman allegedly sexually harassed on Sunday night approached them following several attempts by the department to locate her, a senior official said on Tuesday.

“We sent several messages to her through media and also through her Twitter account while giving our phone numbers but she did not come forward since the morning. It was difficult for us to locate her as she had untagged us,” Indore’s deputy inspector general Harinarayanchari Mishra said.

“It was only after we managed to locate her that she lodged the FIR under Section 354 of IPC (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) in the evening,” the senior official added.

He said a team led by city superintendent of police Vijay Nagar has been constituted to investigate the case.

“Had she dialled 100 or contacted any of the police stations or officers immediately after the crime it would have made our task in tracking down the criminals easier. Our phone numbers are available on the police department’s website,” Mishra added.

The woman, who described herself as an Indore-based model and actor, had alleged in a series of tweets on Monday that two men tried to pull down her skirt on a road in Indore while she was riding her scooter on Sunday, adding that it was her right to wear what she wished.

She cannot be named because of laws protecting the identity of sexual harassment victims.

Chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan instructed the state director general of police and the Indore collector to take immediate action after her Twitter posts became viral.

“Yah ek sharmnaak harkat hai, inko dhoondhkar jald karyavahi ki jay. Indore collector and DGP turant karyavahi Karen evam mujhe is vishay par jaankari den (It is a shameful act. They must be found out and there should be immediate action. Indore collector and the DGP must act immediately and inform me about the matter),” tweeted Chouhan in the morning.

She said she was driving a two-wheeler when two men on a motorcycle molested her and shouted: “dikhao skirt ke niche kya hai” (show us what’s underneath). She lost control of her scooter when she tried to stop the men and fell down.

“Those guys don’t have any right to harass me because WEARING A SKIRT DOESN’T GIVE YOU A RIGHT TO BEHAVE LIKE THAT [SIC].”

A man who offered help allegedly faulted her for wearing a skirt. “I have never been so offended,” she said.

“These scars will fade but not the ones on my soul,” the woman said, posting pictures of the injuries she suffered while trying to fend off the assault by the two men.

Her tweets went viral, inviting comments from all over. Most people supported her decision to speak out and urged her to approach the police.

“I want to thank everyone who has come forward to support me. I’m just an ordinary girl, and I needed my story to be heard. Not just for me, but also for all those girls who didn’t dare to do the same,” the woman tweeted later.