Pune: The Bharti Vidyapeeth police here on Friday arrested a man for assaulting a female autorickshaw driver and chasing her naked as she refused to do him sexual favors. The culprit, identified as Nikhil Memzade (30), was traced with the help of his phone that he had forgotten behind in the rickshaw as he fled the crime scene after the victim protested against the assault.
As informed by the Bharti Vidyapeeth Police Station Inspector Srihari Bahirat, the accused purportedly boarded the autorickshaw that the victim was driving on December 26. He started talking to her as she drove while he was seated in the passenger seat. He gradually started asking her personal questions, and as the ride went further, his questions turned inappropriate.
At around 10 pm, the accused asked the driver to halt the rickshaw on a dark street near Katraj square. The woman, as a part of her duty as the autorickshaw driver, stopped the auto and waited for him to pay the rent and leave. However, he started forcing her to get off the rickshaw and have dinner with him. When she refused, he started doing lewd activities and asked the woman to do him sexual favors. The victim, shaken by the inappropriate behavior, protested and firmly refused to do anything he asked.
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Met with protest, he stripped his clothes off and tried to force himself on her. When the victim tried to flee the spot, he started chasing her in naked condition. As the woman reached a fairly crowded area while trying to escape, he stopped chasing her and fled the spot. The woman managed to make it home the same night and reached the police station the next day to lodge a complaint.
The accused had forgotten his phone in the autorickshaw which the woman brought with her as evidence. The Bharti Vidyapeeth police registered a complaint and launched an investigation. The man was traced and arrested on Friday with the help of his forgotten mobile phone.
