Mumbai: An 80-year-old man was remanded to three days’ police custody by a special court on Friday. The man was arrested by Pant Nagar Police on Thursday in pursuance of a complaint filed against him, accusing him of sexually assaulting a minor girl. The man — Mohammed Hamid Shaikh — a resident of Ghatkopar, was accused by a 12-year-old girl of sexual assault by touching her ‘inappropriately’.
Shaikh was produced before the special court presided over by Judge M H More, who remanded him in police custody until Sunday. According to the girl, Shaikh, who runs a footwear shop, would often call out to her, since his shop was on the way to the masjid, where the girl went for Arabic classes.
In her preliminary statements, the girl said, “The chappalwala dada (Shaikh) would call me every day but on that particular day (of the incident), he took me behind his shop and touched me inappropriately. He also gave me Rs 50 before taking me behind the shop.” Frightened by his conduct, the victim managed to escape from the spot and narrated the ordeal to her mother, who then reported the incident to the police. The girl’s allegations were corroborated by her seven-year-old sister, who claimed that Shaikh usually touched her inappropriately.