The 13-year-old victim registered a complaint against the three men who misbehaved with her on Friday afternoon. They were produced in court yesterday

The Kasarwadawali police have arrested the three men who molested a 13-year-old girl in Thane on Friday afternoon. The accused, identified as Avtar Singh, 27, Jasbir Singh, 23, and Mangaljit Singh, 38, are originally from Punjab and stay at Guruwada at Dongripada, Thane. On Saturday, they were presented at Thane court, where members from Shiv Sena’s women wing raised slogans against the accused, asking maximum punishment for the men.



A screen grab shows Jasbir Singh waving two swords in the air before being nabbed by the police

The incident

On Friday, the victim — a Class 9 student — registered a complaint with a police after she was molested by the three men at Dogripada, Thane. In her statement, she told the police that she had stayed back at school for extra classes and was returning home, when the accused coming from the opposite direction started misbehaving with her. She started screaming which caught the attention of passersby and soon, a crowd gathered. Sensing trouble, Avtar and Managaljit managed to flee, while the third accused Jasbir entered the Gurunanak Darbar Gurudwara and emerged holding two swords. As he swung the swords wildly, a 15-year-old boy, Sahil Srisath, was badly hurt. The police was called and they managed to nab the trio.

A woman said: “We saw the girl screaming and realised that the men had misbehaved with her. When we called the police, they dismissed the matter as a small issue but when we called them the second time saying that a girl had been molested, they agreed to come to the spot.” The victim told sunday mid-day, “My teacher was only 10 steps behind me when she saw me crying. She called my mother and when she arrived, the three of us went to the police station to the file the complaint.”

A senior police inspector from Kasarwadawali police said: “We have lodged a complaint against them under molestation, voluntarily causing hurt, arms act and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. We will investigate whether they are history sheeters or if they involved in any crime in Punjab, where they belong.”