The Delhi police has swung into action in the case in which a female staff of a Delhi hotel was allegedly molested by a security manager. However, it will take at least a month for the charge sheet to be filed. Speaking to this correspondent, DCP (Indira Gandhi International Airport) Sanjay Bhatia said: “The police is investigating the matter, but it is going to take at least a month for the charge sheet to be filed.”
The accused was arrested on Friday, 17 days after the case was registered, and was granted bail just a day later, on Saturday.
A 34-year-old woman employee at Pride Plaza Hotel in Aerocity was allegedly molested by the security manager on 29 July. However, she approached the police on 1 August after which an FIR was registered with the IGI Airport police station.
The victim, a guest relations associate, was allegedly molested by Pawan Dahiya, who can be seen in the CCTV footage pulling the edge of the victim’s sari in an attempt to drag her to him. However, Dahiya was arrested only 17 days after the matter was reported.
Interestingly, the hotel and the police did not immediately take action on the victim’s complaint, though the footage of the incident was available. Another staff member of the hotel, who helped the victim attain the CCTV footage, has been sacked by the hotel. Asked whether the CCTV footage provided by the victim was sufficient to go ahead in the case, the police official said: “We need to gather more evidence. It will take some time.”
On the delay in the arrest, Bhatia said, “There were allegations by the victim and there were counter allegations by the accused, which had to be investigated. On Friday, he was found guilty and arrested.” The victim has alleged negligence on the part of the human resource department of the hotel, saying that the HR manager did not take immediate action when she complained to them on 31 July. Instead, the department dissuaded her from filing a formal complaint. She then informed her husband, who suggested that she file a police complaint.