Indian police have arrested a man accused of stalking and inappropriately touching two Australian cricketers participating in the ICC Women’s World Cup in Madhya Pradesh, officials said Saturday.
The incident occurred in the central Indian city of Indore on Thursday morning when the two players left their hotel to go to a cafe, a day after Australia’s victory over England in the group stage of the World Cup, when they were allegedly approached by a motorcyclist.
“Security officers of the Australian women’s cricket team lodged a complaint because two members of the team were subjected to inappropriate behaviour,” Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police Rajesh Dandotiya told the Indian News Agency. ANI.
“An FIR (first information report) was registered and the accused was identified and arrested after an intense strategic operation.”
He has been charged under sections 74 and 78 of the penal code which deal with assault or use of criminal force against a woman with intent to outrage her modesty and stalking respectively. “We are examining whether there were any shortcomings in the security protocols,” Dandotiya added.
Violence against women remains a chronic problem in the world’s most populous country, where an average of almost 90 rapes per day was reported in 2022.
Dandotiya said the 30-year-old man arrested has a criminal record.
The two players were not identified by Indian police or Cricket Australia, which confirmed the incident.
“The matter was reported by team security to the police, who are handling the matter,” Cricket Australia said in a statement.
Board of Control for Cricket in India secretary Devajit Saikia said it was an “isolated and deeply regrettable incident”.
“We appreciate the prompt and effective action taken by the Madhya Pradesh Police to arrest the accused. The law will take its due course to ensure justice is done,” Saikia said.
“We will also review our existing security protocols and strengthen them further, if necessary, to ensure that these types of incidents do not happen again.”
He Indian Times The newspaper reported that the team’s security manager received a distress message from one of the cricketers saying “…there is a guy following us trying to grab us.”
Team officials were informed and went to their location to help the players, according to the newspaper.
A police patrol then escorted the players to the team hotel.
India has made progress towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in recent years, but women’s safety remains a serious concern.
