A video showing an on-duty Kochi cop touching women and minor girls inappropriately by extending his hand strategically and brushing it against the unsuspecting victims, has gone viral on social media, a News 18 report says.
The accused cop’s act wouldn’t have come to notice hadn’t a bystander shot a video of it.
The accused has been identified as homeguard Sivakumar, who was on duty outside the Lourdes Matha Church in Thevara, Kochi on Tuesday. After a user shared the video on social media, it went viral triggering calls for his sacking and arrest.
The video shows Sivakumar standing on the road and subsequently placing himself in the way of passing crowd. He then stretches his hands and scuttles left and right every time people walk past. Whenever a woman or a minor girl passes by, the cop finds a way to touch them inappropriately without them even suspecting that it was deliberate.
A Newsminute report said the cop has been booked under IPC 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and sections 7 and 8 of the POCSO (Protection of Children from Sexual Offences) Act after the video came under the attention of city’s police chief.
While the accused cop has been relieved of his duties as a home guard traffic policeman, he hasn’t been suspended yet. Netizens are demanding his suspension from the fire and rescue services department from where he was transferred to the home guard department.
The incident is reminiscent of a similar viral video in West Bengal where a man was seen molesting an underage girl on the grounds of a local fair in June.
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