Marathi actress harassed on Mumbai road, perpetrator arrested

Noted Marathi actress Chinmayee Surve-Raghavan faced an obscene situation when a man came out of a car and masturbated in front of her on Monday and complained to police, who managed to trace and apprehend the perpetrator within a few hours.

According to the complaint filed by Chinmayee's husband and veteran actor Sumeet Raghavan with Vile Parle police and the Mumbai Traffic Police, she was walking in Vile Parle when the incident took place.

Raghavan also tweeted about the incident and sought help to trace the culprit who was in a white BMW, whose last four registration digits were 1985.

"The driver wearing a grey safari who had parked near the Parle Tilak Vidyalaya School in Vile Parle east got off his car and started masturbating in front of my wife. Before she could slap him, he escaped. She could note down just the last four digits," he posted on Facebook and Twitter.

Raghavan added that the person needed to be found as there are schoolgirls in that area and he must have done this to them as well.

After scanning the footage from CCTV in the locality and based on the number of the vehicle, police moved swiftly to trace the culprit within hours.

"Yes, we have detained the 42-year old driver of the vehicle, identified as Jivan Choudhary and further investigations are underway," Vile Parle police chief, Senior Police Inspector Laxman Chawan told IANS.

Raghavan is an actor since the past 35 years with several teleserials and Marathi and Hindi films to his credit, while Chinmayee is also an acclaimed Marathi stage, teleserial and film actress.

Shortly after the incident was highlighted, social media came out in support of the popular actor-couple, while police plan to charge Choudhury under the Indian Penal Code.

--IANS

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