Kochi: An SI has been arrested in Mulamthuruthy, Ernakulam, in a sexual assault case. Babu Mathew of Ernakulam central station has been arrested for allegedly threatening and sexually assaulting a housewife.
The complaint against SI Babu Mathew, 55, alleges that he has been threatening and sexually harassing the woman for more than a year ever since he was the additional SI at the Mulamthuruthy station.
The Mulamthuruthy police had filed a case after the 37-year-old woman lodged a complaint with Kochi DCP G Poonguzhali. The case was registered about a month ago.
After the case was registered, SI Babu Mathew went into hiding and tried to get an anticipatory bail. When it was denied, he reached the police station and surrendered.
The accused, who was produced in court, has been shifted to a COVID observation centre.
The woman recorded her statement before the magistrate under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC).
According to the woman's complaint, when asked to pay the fine during a vehicle inspection, the woman went to the station and agreed to pay. When he reached the station, he befriended the young woman. He then started visiting her home as an acquaintance.
One day while changing clothes in her room, he came in without permission and touched her private parts and sexually abused her. He then continued to harass her for a year by threatening that he would reveal details of the sexual encounter, the woman said in her complaint.
