Nerul police arrested a 43-year-old man for allegedly assaulting a woman rickshaw driver after she asked him to follow COVID norms. The accused forced the woman driver to allow four persons to commute in her autorickshaw and later assaulted her when she asked to pay the right fares.
The accused was identified as Vinod Singh, 43, a resident of sector 10 in Nerul and he was arrested on Wednesday.
According to the police, Singh and his three family members were returning from Belapur on Tuesday night. They decided to hire an autorickshaw and asked Savita Bele, 34, the auto-rickshaw driver to go to Nerul.
However, Bele refused to carry four people in her auto as this would violate the Covid protocols. But Singh forced her to carry all four of them.
Finally, Bele ferried all four members. “When they reached Nerul, the complainant asked for Rs 75 fare which was shown on the meter. However, the accused started arguing with her again saying that they travel the same distance every day by paying Rs 50,” said an official from Nerul police station. When the complainant insisted on paying Rs 75, the accused allegedly abused and assaulted her with bare hands. The complainant suffered minor injuries in the attack. At present, the auto-rickshaw driver Bele is in civic hospital in Vashi for treatment of her injuries.
Following an FIR registered by Bele, police arrested Singh on Wednesday. Police booked Singh under sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). He was produced before the judicial court and has been remanded to police custody.
