Married man arrested for molesting 17-year-old girl on Thane skywalk

Thane: A 32-year-old married man was arrested for allegedly molesting a 17-year-old college student on a skywalk on Ghodbunder Road in Thane on Sunday. The arrested accused has been identified as Dinesh Gaud. He works in a glass cutting shop and resides with his wife and 10-year-old daughter in Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh.

Following the arrested, Gaud was produced in Thane court which remanded him to police custody till August 18, reported Hindustan Times.

On August 11 at around 6.15 am, the 17-year-old college student was walking on the deserted skywalk near R-Mall in Thane’s Manpada when Gaud allegedly held the girl inappropriately from behind. However, the teenage girl bit him to save herself. This scared Gaud and he left the girl and fled the spot.

However, while running away he forgot his colourful umbrella on the skywalk and came back to retrieve it within minutes. The girl who had not seen his face noticed his umbrella and an equally bright reddish pink shirt that he had worn when he returned to take the umbrella after committing the heinous act. Interestingly, Gaud’s love for colourful umbrella and bright coloured clothes were enough for the police to track him. The police, through informers and CCTV footage, traced the alleged molester in four days, reported Hindustan Times.

A police officer from Chitalsar said the girl was on her way to college when the incident took place. “She got scared as the accused held her from behind and bit on his throat. The accused then lost his grip and left the girl. He ran from the skywalk. However, when he realised that he dropped his umbrella fell on the skywalk during the scuffle, he climbed back onto the skywalk and took the umbrella and ran again. He had a colourful umbrella. The girl who was in shock saw the umbrella and also noticed his equally colourful shirt. She managed to return home and described the incident to her mother,” the officer said as quoted by Hindustan Times.

The girl’s parents immediately took her to the Chitalsar police station and lodged an FIR. She also narrated her ordeal to the police.

Sulbha Patil, senior inspector of Chitalsar police station said though the girl did not recollect Gaud’s face, she remembered his bright reddish pink shirt and a multi-coloured umbrella.

“The girl had noticed the umbrella and his shirt when he had returned to get the umbrella that had fallen on the skywalk during the scuffle. Subsequently, we formed five teams and activated all our informers with information about the umbrella and the attire of the accused. We also inspected footage of 35 CCTV cameras installed along Ghodbunder Road. While examining the footage, we saw a person with the same colour shirt but his face was not visible. Through our informants, we got to know about a person who loved colourful shirts and umbrellas and resided in the shanties of Manorama Nagar in Dokali.,” said Patil.

The Chitalsar Police then caught the accused and during interrogation, he confessed to having committed the offence.