Kolkata: Pragati Maidan cops have arrested a 24-year-old man for allegedly wrongfully restraining, physically assaulting, and outraging the modesty of a young woman at a nightclub inside a prominent five star hotel located along the EM Bypass near Science City in the early hours of Sunday.The arrested suspect has been identified as Mohammed Rafey Azim (24), a resident of Bhukailash Road in Kidderpore and Tiljala Road in the Beniapukur area.According to police, the incident occurred around 2 am on Sunday, when the 20-year-old complainant, a resident of New Alipore , visited the disco located inside the five star property along with a group of eight friends.The victim stated in her complaint that while they were at the venue, the accused, aided and abetted by others, confronted her group. The suspect allegedly subjected the complainant to wrongful restraint, physically assaulted her, and used extremely filthy and abusive language intended to insult her modesty. Following the altercation and physical assault, the accused and his aides fled the scene.The police were alerted through an emergency call at the Dial 100 control room. A team from Pragati Maidan PS immediately rushed to the place of occurrence. Cops said the five star hotel administration helped them in collecting evidence when requested.According to additional CP (crime) Kunal Agarwal, cops arrested the accused as soon as they received the complaint. “After receiving the information from Toy Room Disco located inside JW Marriott Hotel through Dial 100, a team of Pragati Maidan PS visited the place and after examination requested the complainant to submit a complaint. Meanwhile, the complainant and her friends came to Pragati Maidan PS and submitted the plaint letter. On the basis of it, an FIR was started. After lodging the FIR and identifying the address of accused, a raid was conducted and the accused was arrested,” said Agarwal.Pragati Maidan Police registered charges under sections 74 (assault or use of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 79 (word, gesture, or act intended to insult modesty), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), 126(2) (wrongful restraint), and 54 (abettor present when offence is committed) of the BNS.Azim was arrested from his Tiljala Road residence around 11:40 am on Sunday.Attempts to reach out to JW Marriott was made by TOI on Sunday evening through phone calls and WhatsApp messages but an official response is still awaited.
