The Mumbai police Monday booked a 16-year-old junior college student for sexual harassment of a minor after he was alleged to have verbally abused a female classmate over her response to a message his friend had shared on their collegemates’ WhatsApp group.
The complainant, also aged 16, subsequently approached the Nirmal Nagar police along with her parents and filed a complaint.
As per the police complaint, on April 2, when the complainant was home, she received calls, messages and voice notes from the accused. “The suspect contacted her using another boy’s mobile phone number and abused the teenaged girl as she had responded with a ‘puking’ emoji on a voice message shared by his friend and a classmate on their college WhatsApp group,” said a police source.
The accused, who felt offended, allegedly called the girl and verbally abused her, the source added.
Disturbed over the incident, the girl discussed it with her parents after a few days and they eventually approached the police on Monday. She also submitted screenshots of the offensive messages sent to her and the conversation in which she shared the ‘puking’ emoji.
The matter was also brought to the notice of the college administration.
The police booked the accused under section 79 (insulting modesty of a woman) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and under section 12 (sexual harassment) of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act. They are further investigating the matter, said a police officer.
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