Policeman arrested for sexually abusing a 35-year-old woman in Alibaug

The accused also assaulted a police official

A police constable named Shyam Jadhav, who is working at district police headquarters in Alibaug has been arrested for sexually harassing a 35-year-old married woman.

According to the FIR lodged by the 35-year-old woman, she knew the accused and taking advantage of the friendship, the accused had started sexually abusing her six years ago.

“According to the complainant, the accused used to threaten her that he would harm her husband and children,” Ashok Dudhe, superintendent of police, Raigad, said.

The victim finally lodged the complaint after getting fed up with the regular harassment.

After the case was registered, the accused had also assaulted a police official from Pen police station after which another case for obstructing government work was also registered against him.

A resident of Ramwadi in Pen, Jadhav had been working in the police department for the last six years and is married.

“We suspended the accused with immediate effect and he is currently in police custody till Tuesday,” Raigad DSP, Atul Zende, said.

According to the National Crime Records Bureau, one woman is sexually harassed every 20 minutes in India. 

Total cases of sexual harassment stood at 17,003 in 2020. The Indian capital city Delhi reported the highest number of harassment cases against women over 320 cases in India in 2020. Among its major cities, Mumbai and Bengaluru followed in the country during the measured time period.

According to a survey in 2019, India ranked highest in the list of dangerous countries for women.