NRI among the two arrested for harassing and threatening two women during a party in a 5-star hotel

Calcutta: Police on Wednesday arrested two persons for allegedly harassing a woman and her sister during a party at a famous five-star hotel in Kolkata. The arrested include an Indian expatriate and another Kolkata resident.

According to the woman's complaint, the incident occurred on Tuesday evening around 11:50 p.m. The accused harassed and touched the woman and her sister and threatened them with dire consequences.

The two accused arrested are Arun Kumar, a 60-year-old NRI resident in Italy, originally from Delhi, and 43-year-old Rinku Gupta from Kolkata.

Arun Kumar had been staying at the five-star hotel and called the second accused to meet him there. The two accused knew each other. They attended a party at the hotel where the harassment allegedly took place, India Today reported.

The singer filed a complaint at Pragati Maidan police station, alleging that the two accused – one of whom is an Italian national and the other a local – touched her inappropriately at the five-star hotel, a senior police official told news agency PTI.

She also alleged that the duo tried to harass other women present at the party. The police have arrested the accused and an investigation into the matter is underway. The complaint was registered at Pragati Maidan police station on August 4 under sections 74, 351(2) and 54 of the Bengal Non-State Security Act (BNS).

The incident came to light on the same day that the West Bengal Parliament passed an anti-rape law: the Aparajita Woman and Child Bill (West Bengal Criminal Laws and Amendment) Bill, 2024. It proposes the death penalty for rape victims if their acts cause the death of a victim or put her in a vegetative state.

This case in Kolkata came amid nationwide outrage and protests in the Bengali capital over the rape and murder of the 31-year-old junior doctor at RG Kar Medical College and Hospital on August 9.

ALSO READ: Bengal Parliament passes ‘Aparajita Bill’, BJP fully supports state anti-rape law