In a shocking development, two players from the Australia women's cricket team were molested in Indore while they were walking from their hotel to a cafe on Thursday. A young man on a bike attempted to touch the female players inappropriately and they sent a SOS notification as soon as the incident occurred.
Soon, a complaint was filed at the MIG police station by Australia team's security manager Danny Simmons and following this, the police registered an FIR and arrested the accused, Aqeel. Notably, the Australia cricket team is staying at the Radisson Blu hotel.
According to sub-inspector Nidhi Raghuvanshi, the two players had stepped out of their hotel and were walking towards a cafe when a man on a motorcycle started following them and touched one of them inappropriately before riding off. After receiving the information, Assistant Commissioner of Police Himani Mishra lodged an FIR under Section 74 (use of criminal force to outrage a woman's modesty) and Section 78 (stalking) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) at the MIG police station.
The official revealed that Aqeel, who has been accused for the incident, has previously had cases registered against him as well. "Khan has prior criminal cases registered against him, and an investigation is ongoing," she said.
The Australia team has been staying in Indore for a week now. They had played against England on Wednesday at the Holkar stadium and will be locking horns against South Africa on Saturday at the same venue. They have already booked their place in the semi-final of the World Cup and will either be travelling to Guwahati or Mumbai depending on who they face in the last 4.
Australia's dominant run in the World Cup
Meanwhile, the Alyssa Healy-led side are unbeaten in the tournament so far and have won five out of the six games that they have played. They currently stand at the top of the table with 11 points and will hoping to remain on that spot by coming out victorious in their final league stage game against South Africa.