A 16-year-old girl was left with a fractured nose after a man, Imran Shahid Shaikh (19), hit her repeatedly when she protested his passing lewd comments at her on Tuesday night in Kurla, Mumbai.

#WATCH #CCTVVisuals: Minor girl allegedly molested in #Mumbai on Oct 17, beaten up as she protested. Case registered by Nehru Nagar Police pic.twitter.com/Qo2T8VZCN4

— ANI (@ANI) October 20, 2017

To make matters worse, the girl has alleged that police did not record her complaint properly and offered her money “to compromise.” The police complaint says that the girl was attacked by Shaikh after she asked him and his friends not to argue among themselves loudly. Police claims that the girl did not mention anything about being sexually harassed while lodging the complaint.

There are conflicting reports regarding Shaikh’s current status.

According to Zee News, the accused was arrested on the day of the incident but was later granted bail by a local court. But PTI has reported that while Shaikh was arrested and released on bail by a court earlier this week, the police pressed a new charge of molestation under section 354 IPC against him and took him in custody afresh.

The CCTV video footage showed Shaikh repeatedly hitting the girl, who slumped to the ground. The passersby did not come to her help before the man had left the scene.

According to a police official, the incident took place on October 17 near the SRA Building in Shramjeevi Nagar at around 7 pm when the girl was going to her class at Adarsh Nagar in the Thakkar Bappa Colony, Chembur with a friend.

“Shaikh hit her on the nose with a metal object, after which she collapsed on the ground, bleeding from the nose profusely,” the official said, adding that Shaikh then threatened her and fled the spot. The girl was taken to a hospital, where she was found to have suffered a nose fracture, the official said.

The girl told national TV channels that Shaikh was harassing her for the last few days and that when she complained to her mother about it, she sent her elder sister to talk to the man’s mother. However, nothing changed and Shaikh continued to pass vulgar remarks at her whenever she was on her way to attend classes.

“I had told all of this to the police but they recorded something else in the statement. The police also told us not to file a case and instead, go for a compromise. We were also offered money to shut up,” the girl claimed.

“We have called the girl to record further statement in this case. If some new facts surface, charges will be added against the accused,” Senior Police Inspector of Nehrunagar Police Station Pramod Khoparde said.

This incident is very similar to the shocking daylight stabbing murder of 21-year-old aspiring air hostess Riya Gautam by a stalker Mohammed Adil (22).

Mumbai police and Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis would do well to ensure that Imran Shahid Shaikh does not get off easily. Increasingly, it looks like certain sections of society have no fear of law. What is also needed is greater community involvement as neighborhood watchdogs to tackle such criminal elements at an earlier stage.

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