Civil supplies dept staff arrested for misbehaving with woman

CHENNAI: A civil supplies department staff who misbehaved with a lone woman on the pretext of verification of documents to issue a new smart card has been arrested by New Washermenpet police.

The accused A Hayath Basha (45) of Vyasarpadi is a junior assistant in the civil supplies department and was sent to verify the credentials of the victim, a 25-year-old widow and resident of New Washermenpet, since she had applied for a new ration card.

On Friday, Hayath Basha reached the victim's house and sought documents for verification. When the victim said she did not have the documents, Hayath Basha allegedly demanded favours from her. Hayath Basha allegedly harassed the victim over the phone and returned to her house on Saturday too.

Since he allegedly tried to misbehave with the woman, she raised an alarm. The neighbours gathered and bashed Hayath Basha before handing him over to police. New Washermenpet police booked him under Sections 354 and 354A of IPC and remanded him in judicial custody.