Mumbai man gets 3-year term for sexual harassment

Swift action by police leads to conviction within a month of crime

In an instance of efficient and swift prosecution, a magistrate court in Mumbai convicted a man less than a month after he flashed his genitals in front of a woman in a city park, sentencing him to three years in prison for outraging the victim’s modesty and sexual harassment.

In her order, metropolitan magistrate Yashshree Marulkar said, “Sexual offences are not only a crime against the woman, it is a crime against the entire society.”

In the incident on September 18, 2021, the woman was sitting in a city park when she noticed the accused, Rajkumar Tandel, 56, moving around her as though stalking her. She then got up and moved to a bench in another part of the park. But Tandel started walking towards her and when nobody was noticing he unzipped his trousers and exposed his genitals. The woman got frightened and started running towards the exit gate while Tandel followed her.