KOLKATA: If you are a pedestrian or use the public transport system, beware of a gang of women that traps innocent people as molesters and extorts them.
At a time when sexual harassment cases are shaking the nation, this bunch of women has seized upon the fear psychosis to make some quick money, regardless of what effect it might have on women who are actually victims of molestation and rape.
Such incidents have been reported over the past few weeks but no one had dared go to police until the all-lady gang targeted a lawyer on Wednesday, without realizing his wife was with him or that there were legal clerks around as witnesses.
Lawyer Asim Kumar Maity was returning home when the incident occurred in the busy Dalhousie area.
"It was around 5.30 pm, after the day's work. I, my wife and some law-clerks were looking for a taxi in front of Mughal Garden Restaurant. My wife was a little away chatting with the law clerks. I had just had an altercation with a cabby over refusal. All of sudden, a woman, who looked to be in her late 40s, swung towards me and held me by my collar. I was stunned. I had never even dreamt of being in such a situation," recounted Maity.
The woman charged Maity aggressively and accused him of molesting her. "Why did you touch me," she demanded to know and threatened to "drag him to Hare Street police station".
The commotion quickly attracted a crowd. And as it happens in such cases, people instinctively trust the woman.
"She was hurling filthy abuses to unnerve my husband. In no time, three other women emerged from a nearby alley and joined the first one. By the time I had overcome my initial bafflement and rushed to rescue my husband," said Kaberi Sengupta Maity.
Maity, too, had shaken off his initial shock and shouted back. That his wife was with him gave him added support.
"They were not only abusive but were threatening to put me behind bars. When my wife came to my rescue, they grew more desperate and tried to draw public sympathy by 'showing' how I molested her. From their words, my legal brain could pick up that they knew of Section 354-IPC (molestation) and that it had been made a non-bailable offence," Maity said.
The gang backed off only when they realized Maity was a lawyer and he not only had the support of his wife but a bunch of legal clerks as witnesses.
"Other lawyers also came to our rescue, so did law-clerks. I told them that I was ready to go to any police station and demanded to see their identity. They were still hurling abusive words. By then, a law-clerk brought a cab and we boarded it. The women banged on the taxi as we were about to leave," Maity said.
Since they were all women, Maity and his group decided not to confront them any further. "But later, I felt I must record a complaint as they can harass an unsuspecting citizen and extort him in the name of an out-of-police-station settlement. Police must be proactive to nab the gang before they trap others," he said. Hare Street police are investigating the complaint.
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