Mumbai: Constable arrested for ‘sexually harassing’ woman

A police constable was arrested for allegedly sexually harassing a 33-year-old woman from Parel. According to police, the woman had registered a case of sexual harassment in April 2017, following which the constable was arrested but later released on bail. After his release, he had allegedly resumed harassing the girl and her family. The constable has been identified as Shailesh Kadam, who was suspended from the police force four years ago after a case of sexual harassment was registered against him at Juhu police station. According to the police, Kadam has six cases of sexual harassment registered against him.

An officer from Bhoiwada police station said, “The victim’s father owns a tailoring shop below a residential building in which the accused has been staying for years. When the woman came to the shop to help her father, the accused began harassing her. He would follow her, pass lewd comments, click pictures and had even started shooting videos of her. He was arrested after she registered a case against him at the police station, but he was released on bail and started harassing her again.”

The harassment resumed in October 2017. Police said Kadam would allegedly post lewd comments on Facebook and WhatsApp. On March 16, Kadam posted a WhatsApp status update using the woman’s nickname. “After Kadam threatened the woman, she came to the police station and registered a case against him. A team was dispatched and the suspended constable was arrested from his residence,” said senior Police Inspector Dattatray Patil.

Kadam has been booked under sections 354 (D) (stalking), 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman), 506 (criminal intimidation), 500 (defamation) and 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) of the IPC along with 67 (A) of the Information Technology Act. He will be produced in Bhoiwada court on Monday.