Girl molested on roadways bus, man ‘linked’ to BJP booked

A man from Hisar allegedly molested a member of an under-19 district cricket girls’ team while travelling on a Haryana roadways bus going from Yamunanagar to Hisar last night. The police today registered a case and arrested him.

He was identified as Bhim Sein Agrawal, whose Facebook profile described him as the vice-president of Hisar Urban of the BJP.

According to the police, the incident occurred when members of the under-19 cricket team comprising students from a private school were returning home after participating in a tournament.

In the complaint to the police, the victim, a minor, said a man boarded the Barwala bus stand, about 35 km from Hisar. He started talking to her after introducing himself as a BJP leader and claimed to have links with high-ups. He asked the girl to contact him, if needed.

Agrawal then asked for the phone of the girl to make a call. As the victim handed over her phone, he made a missed call to his own number and returned the phone to her, the complainant stated in the written statement to the police.

When the bus reached near Talwandi Rana village, a few kms short of Hisar town, the accused asked the girl which class she studied in. When the girl replied, Agrawal started staring at her in an objectionable manner and also uttered offensive words. He remarked about her figure and then asked her to visit Hisar. He also offered to take her to Agroha town for a trip.

At this point, the victim told these things to a senior member of the team sitting on the same bus. The girls then raised an alarm and, with the help of co-passengers, caught hold of the accused.

Sources said that on reaching the bus stand in Hisar, Agrawal was handed over to the police. Later, the family members of the victim arrived at the bus stand and demanded registration of a criminal case against Agrawal.

But the police registered a case only in the afternoon today after the family of the victim and other activists put pressure on the police.

Ashok Saini, district president of the BJP, said that it was a condemnable and criminal act which must be dealt with as per the law. “He is not an office-bearer of the BJP at present. However, it is a criminal act and if found guilty, the accused must be brought to book,” Saini said.