A 20-year-old man, who had been stalking a student of Lady Shri Ram College for Women for two months, was arrested after he allegedly molested and dragged her in front of the college on April 3.
The accused, Arjun, had earlier been interrogated for stalking the student and was warned days before the April 3 incident, according to a report in The Indian Express.
Despite the warning, Arjun harassed the student at around 2 pm on April 3 when she was leaving the college with her friends. “He started misbehaving with her and grabbed her hand and started dragging her, asking her to come with him, even as she pleaded to let her go,” police said.
The student had lodged a complaint against Arjun on January 27 for stalking and threatening her. “A complaint was registered under IPC sections 354-D (stalking) and 506 (threatening) at the Amar Colony police station. But as per the Supreme Court’s guidelines, we could not arrest him. We asked him to join the investigation, but by then he had gone absconding,” said the DCP (south-east district), Romil Baaniya.
The investigation officer had also raided Arjun’s house, in Indra Enclave, and all other possible hideouts but had failed to find him. “The IO recently filed a charge sheet in the Delhi court, and Arjun joined investigation on March 28. After sustained interrogation, they released him warning him not to harass and stalk the girl,” police told the paper.
The accused has been arrested and sent to a 14-day judicial custody for the recent complaint. Another FIR under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the Indian Penal Code was filed against him.
Students have complained of routine harassment by men near the back gate of the college as well as the lanes around the college. While police claim they have increased patrolling in Amar Colony, the area near the college, students say the harassment continues unabated.