UP ex-minister Sudhir Balyan’s son, aide held for harassing mother-daughter

AGRA: Two men, identified as Aryaman Raghuvanshi, 28, and his associate Surya Gupta, 18, were arrested for allegedly harassing a woman and her daughter when they stepped outside for a walk after dinner in Muzaffarnagar’s New Mandi area. Raghuvanshi is the son of former cabinet minister Sudhir Balyan.The incident happened on Friday night when the two accused arrived on a scooter and passed abusive and lewd remarks on the woman. When the daughter, in her 20s, started recording the harassment, the men turned aggressive and dared them to call the police. The two men even entered the courtyard of the women’s house.Soon, the women’s family members came out of the house, and a scuffle broke out between them and the harassers. As the situation escalated, the two fled.Following a complaint by the family, a case was registered at New Mandi police station under BNS sections 74 (assault or criminal force against a woman), 79 (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (intentional insults aimed at provoking a breach of peace) and 115-2 (voluntarily causing hurt), said police.The accused were also booked under BNSS Section 170 (authorises police to make preventive arrests without a warrant).After examining CCTV footage and the video, police identified and traced the accused, who were arrested a few hours later. “The accused were produced before a magistrate, who granted them bail on Saturday,” said the SHO Brijesh Kumar Sharma.SP (City) Amit Jain said further legal proceedings are underway.(The victim's identity has not been revealed to protect her privacy as per Supreme court directives on cases related to sexual assault)