Police arrested 14 men Friday for allegedly harassing two women outside a five-star hotel in Mumbai during New Year's celebrations, a case that drew widespread criticism after police initially refused to pursue it.
The men face charges of harassing women, rioting, unlawful assembly, criminal intimidation and causing criminal breach of trust, said police officer K.L. Prasad. If convicted, they face up to five years in prison.
The case made headlines earlier this week when Indian newspapers and television news channels ran photographs of a crowd of nearly 50 men at the upscale Juhu beach area of Mumbai pinching, groping and grabbing the clothes of two women who sobbed and fell to the ground as their male companions tried to shield them.
The incident was captured by Hindustan Times photographers, who also alerted police.
The husband of one of the women said they live in California and had come to Mumbai to celebrate the New Year after getting married three days earlier in neighboring Gujarat state.
"We were shocked. After the horrible experience, we just wanted to get back to our hotel," he told the Hindustan Times, which did not identify him on privacy grounds.
Police Commissioner D.N. Jadhav, initially dismissed the case as a routine one and blamed the media for blowing the incident out proportion.
"It's just an offense, and I can't force a cop to police every man in the city. These things can happen anywhere ... even right here where we are," Jadhav told reporters on Tuesday.
He was reprimanded later that day by R.R. Patil, the Maharashtra state home minister, who pledged to find the culprits.
Prasad said one suspect was brought to a police station by his parents and neighbors after they saw his picture in newspapers and he later revealed the names of other suspects.
"Many of the men know each other. They are school dropouts and do odd jobs," Prasad told reporters. "They attended a party and consumed alcohol before going out on the roads to celebrate New Year's Day when the incident happened."
Mumbai is India's financial and entertainment capital, but its tag as the safest Indian city for women has suffered in recent years with incidents of women being raped on trains and harassed in crowded buses and at railroad stations.
Most Indian cities have an abysmal safety record, with women routinely being harassed in crowded public spaces.
"Women must speak up every time these incidents occur. The pictures will help nail the men in this case," said Flavia Agnes, a women's rights activist. "But offenders must be dragged to the police, action must be taken -- only then will these hooligans be held in check."
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