Mumbai: An American woman took Twitter by storm on Monday by revealing how she had been sexually harassed by a man in South Mumbai’s posh Colaba area frequented by several foreigners. A man allegedly masturbated in front of her while she was walking on the street early morning at 7.50 am. She reportedly tried to take him to task but the culprit managed to flee the spot.
However, the victim has managed to take photos of the accused, which she posted on Twitter. Taking cognisance of the incident, the Colaba police suo motu reached out to the American woman who agreed to file a complaint on Tuesday.
The woman Maryanna Abdo posted the picture of the culprit on August 16 and wrote, “Please RT-this man just masturbated at me on the street in broad daylight. Ran away after a confrontation.”
She also tweeted, “It is nothing to do with India, I Love India and it is my home, it happens everywhere. If you are a female human, chances are you have had this experience. Also have faced this in almost every city in this country. And have ended up slapping 2 of them.” Some 1,947 people reacted to her tweet.
Senior police official Vinay Gadgil of the Colaba police station said, “When we came to know about the post, we started patrolling the area. The incident happened on Henry road. We also tried to contact the woman, because we can’t file an FIR on the basis of a statement given on a social networking site. We got her number and convinced her to come to the station and register an FIR.”
Additional commissioner of police Pratap Dighavkar said, “We will take serious action against the accused and those who are creating nuisance like this.”
Meanwhile, after talking to a shopkeeper and other regulars in the area, this correspondent was informed that a few beggars and labourers have been creating nuisance at night. S.B. Khan, who has small jewellery shop, said, “A few beggars come here every night. Sometimes they also get drunk and leave the spot by morning. I don’t recognise this man but I am sure he must one of the beggars.”
