Dr. Due Books

By Payal Banerjee

Women residents of Vishalnagar, near Jagtap Dairy, breathed a sigh of relief with the arrest of a young exhibitionist who had been harassing the ladies of the area since last month.

The exhibitionist was arrested with the help of five local youths. The 16-year-old exhibitionist was in the  habit of startling women by stripping in front of them.

He was taken to the Sangvi Police Station and released after a warning.

Narrating her experience, a woman, on condition of anonymity, said, “I was going to drop my daughter for her tuitions when we heard a strange sound.

As I looked around, I saw a young boy who stripped himself in front of me, put his clothes back on and rode away on a bike. I was too shocked to even raise an alarm.”

Recounting her experience with the exhibitionist, another lady said, “It was afternoon and my husband was away at work. I had stepped out of the house to throw garbage.

I bent down to throw the garbage and when I looked up, I saw this partially nude boy in front of me. As I screamed in horror, he got on his bike and fled after making funny faces at me.”

Many women of the area had similar experiences while going for their morning or evening walks. The annoyed women finally complained to local youths and the police, as a result of which, some youths started patrolling the area.

On January 24, five youths, named Nikhil Thopte, Yogesh Mankar, Ganesh Pankhade, Vinod Thopte and Prateek Tendulkar were patrolling the area when they noticed a boy on a bike who matched the description given by the women of the locality.

The same morning, another woman had been a victim of the exhibitionist and had told the other youths about it. The youths nabbed him and called the women who identified him and took him to the police station.

Inspector R S Yadav, in-charge of Sangvi police station, said, “We had been receiving complaints and were on the lookout for the boy.

We thought he was an adult but when the residents brought him to the police station he turned out to be a 16-year-old boy and a resident of Jagtap Dairy area. We called his parents, gave him a warning and released him.”