Kolkata: A woman has alleged that she was forcibly taken into a car and molested near her home in the Kasba area of south Kolkata on Friday night. Police said a case has been registered against five persons — two named and three unidentified — and an investigation is under way.
According to the complaint, the incident took place around 11 pm on February 13 on New Ballygunge Road under Kasba police station limits. The woman alleged that several men forced her into a black four-wheeler near the Jahajbari area and took her to a deserted spot with the intention of wrongfully confining her and outraging her modesty.
Police said the woman had hired an app-based cab while returning home and was accosted after getting out near her residence. Two local youths named in the FIR allegedly called her over and, during the interaction, forced her into the car. Her mobile phone was also taken away, which the accused allegedly returned when she started shouting before fleeing the spot.
Police have registered a case under sections 140(3) (kidnapping for wrongful confinement), 74 (assault on a woman to outrage her modesty), 115(2) (voluntarily causing hurt), and 3(5) (acts done by several persons with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
According to police sources, the two named accused were known to the complainant, and one of the three unidentified suspects is believed to be her neighbour. After freeing herself, the woman called a friend, who dropped her home, and she lodged a written complaint at Kasba police station the following day.
Police said efforts are on to identify and arrest the accused. CCTV footage from the area is being examined, and possible witnesses are being questioned.