The Uran police have arrested a BJP worker and president of a Zilla Parishad school committee for molesting five students in Kalambusare village.
Narayan Patil (42) was arrested on Monday night and presented before the Alibaug court on Tuesday. He has been remanded in police custody till April 19. Senior police inspector Jagdish Kulkarni said, “The principal received complaints against the accused and convened a meeting with parents on Monday. A Class IV student told the mother of a Class II student that she had seen the accused molesting her daughter.”
When the woman spoke to her child, she said that Mr. Patil molested her when no one was in class on April 12. The woman then filed a police complaint. Mr. Kulkarni said, “Being the president of the school committee, the accused frequently visited the school and also stayed close to the school.”
The police said that the statements of all the aggrieved parents would be taken. The accused has two daughters and the elder one studies in the same school.
Mr. Kulkarni said, “The accused targeted students aged between six and nine and sometimes even molested them in the presence of other students.”
The accused has been charged under Section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code, and sections of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act.