'You look pretty ...': Man stalking 12-year-old girl thrashed by public in Navi Mumbai

NAVI MUMBAI: A 23-year-old truck driver was severely beaten up by local residents of Kalamboli for allegedly stalking a 12-year-old girl on the streets late Friday evening. The accused has been arrested by Kalamboli police and booked for stalking and assault or use of criminal force on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty, along with the Pocso Act for sexual harassment.Rajendra Kadam, senior inspector of Kalamboli, said that the incident happened around 7.30 pm when,the minor girl had stepped out of her house to dump household garbage in the civic garbage vehicle. According to the police complaint, the accused, who was standing on the roadside, approached her and told her, “You look pretty and I like you.” The girl panicked and ran home. She informed her father who rushed out and nabbed the accused. A huge crowd of locals gathered at the spot, and the accused was thrashed by the mob. Soon, the beat constables reached the spot and detained the accused.Inspector Kadam said, “A police constable was hit by a wooden stick and sustained an injury to his arm as the accused was being rescued. As the constable has been injured, we have registered an FIR against unidentified accused for voluntarily causing hurt to deter a public servant from his duty.”We also published the following articles recently