Navi Mumbai: Man driving friend's taxi sexually harasses two teenage girls, arrested

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The Navi Mumbai police in Maharashtra have arrested a 39-year-old man for sexually harassing two teenage girls, an official told news agency PTI on Saturday.

Accused Sandeep Sonawane is an autorickshaw driver but was driving a friend's taxi when he allegedly committed the crime around 12.15 pm on Friday, an official told PTI.

When the taxi, operating for an app-based service, was on the road leading to Bonkode area, Sonawane allegedly sexually harassed the girls, aged 14 and 15 years, the official told PTI.

Locals rushed to help the girls after hearing their screams and pinned down the accused.

The APMC police have registered a case against Sonawane under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 354 (use of criminal force on a woman with intention to outrage her modesty) and 354A (sexual harassment) and the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, Vivek Pansare, deputy commissioner of police, zone-I, Navi Mumbai told PTI.

In another incident, hours after attacking and killing an 18-year-old girl in broad daylight over a one-sided affair, a man allegedly committed suicide by jumping into a lake in Maharashtra's Palghar district, police told PTI on Saturday.

The body of Prabhakar Waghare (22) was spotted in the lake in the Mokhada area of the district on Saturday morning, Palghar Superintendent of Police Balasaheb Patil told PTI.

A case of accidental death has been registered and the body was sent for post-mortem, the official told PTI.

Waghare had escaped into a jungle after attacking Archana Udhar, a Class 12 student, who was walking from a junior college with her classmates around 11 am on Friday, the official told PTI.

The accused slit the girl's throat with a sharp weapon and killed her, the official told PTI.

Waghare was jilted after the girl turned down his proposal. His parents also approached the victim's parents and didn't receive a positive response, the official told PTI.

The accused allegedly had plans to kill the girl on her birthday two days ago, the official told PTI.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai police on Saturday arrested a member of the Chhota Rajan gang, who has been on the run for the past 28 years, from Surat in Gujarat in connection with a 1994 robbery attempt case, an official told PTI.

The accused, 59-year-old Sabir Barkatali Lakhani, who resided in Antop Hill locality in the city, was arrested by the crime branch of Mumbai police, he said.

(With inputs from PTI)