A 20-year-old Instagram influencer was allegedly molested on the night of November 26 while she was walking to her friend’s home in Malad West.
According to police sources, the victim, who resides in the Vanrai Police Station area, was on a phone call and walking near the Radisson Hotel bridge on SV Road around 9.45 pm, when a man allegedly approached her from behind, grabbed her, molested her, and fled across the road through passing vehicles. Shocked and crying for help, she later tried calling the Mumbai Police Control Room, but could not connect.
When the emergency numbers failed to respond, she contacted her mother, who reached the spot and took her home. The next day, the victim narrated the entire ordeal in detail on Instagram, tagging the police and others, expressing her trauma and frustration over the lack of immediate help.
In her social media post, she wrote that despite screaming loudly, no passerby came forward to assist her. She alleged that none of the emergency helpline numbers for women’s safety responded. “In a city like Mumbai, where it’s supposed to be safer than other cities… a man had the audacity to grope and traumatise a girl in the middle of the road,” she wrote.
The police sprang into action soon after her posts went viral. Since the incident fell under the jurisdiction of Goregaon Police Station, ACP Prakash Bagal personally took charge of the investigation under the supervision of DCP Sandeep Jadhav. Three teams from Goregaon, Malad, and Bangur Nagar police stations were formed, with Senior Inspector Suryakant Kharat also joining the field efforts.
“Although there were no CCTV cameras around the crime spot, investigators managed to obtain footage from Hotel Radisson. The video was unclear due to low lighting, but a silhouette of a suspect helped, and after a coordinated overnight operation, police tracked down the accused,” said an officer.
The arrested accused has been identified as 24-year-old Kuldeep Kanojia, a native of Basti district in Uttar Pradesh. He worked at a plastic factory in Udyog Nagar near the railway tracks between Malad and Goregaon West. During interrogation, Kanojia confessed to committing the offence.
The police explained, “The complainant posted a message describing the incident and tagged Mumbai Police and others. The police immediately replied to the message and asked her to DM her contact details. When she did not, the police, using technical resources, obtained her details and registered an FIR.”
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