Mumbai Three alert minor girls helped Colaba police arrest Ubesh Abdula Rehman Khan alias Sikandar, a 35-year-old taxi driver, for allegedly passing lewd comments, making obscene gestures and stalking them. The girls noted down the taxi number and alerted their school teachers who caught him and handed him over to the police.
According to the police, the girls studying in Class 5 had complained to the teacher that for past one month a taxi-driver would park his cab outside the school gate, pass lewd comments, make obscene gestures, stalk them and even call them near him.
The officer added that the girls informed the female class teacher about the incident. The teacher told them to inform her if they see the accused again. He would follow them around 7 am on their way to school and also when they left school at around 1 pm,” said the police officer.
The girls kept a watch for the accused on Monday and Tuesday, but he did not show up. On Wednesday, when they saw him following them in the morning, they noted down his cab number and informed the female teacher about it. The teacher with the help of other staff members and a male teacher got hold of the accused, said the police officer.
“They caught him and informed the police control room. Our staff immediately went to the school and arrested the accused. Sikandar is a native of Uttar Pradesh, who lives on the footpath near Cooperage Bandstand Garden,” the police officer said.
“Based on teacher’s complaint we have registered an offence under sections 354 D (stalking) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of the IPC and Section 12 (punishment for sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012,” said Vijay Hatiskar, senior police inspector of the Colaba police station.