12 Kolkata: Tensions flared in an apartment complex in Sodepur on the northern fringes of Kolkata on Tuesday morning after a 62-year-old man allegedly attempted to molest the nine-year-old daughter of an advocate, inside the building's elevator on Monday evening. The Class IV student was returning home from her private coaching class.
The elderly neighbour allegedly repeatedly touched the minor inappropriately inside the lift, the neighbours alleged. The matter came to light when the girl informed her family, leading to widespread outrage among the residents of the apartment at Sodepur's Panshila.
The residents launched a protest demanding the immediate arrest of the accused. Police were called to the scene to manage the agitated crowd and bring the situation under control. According to local sources, the incident took place on Monday evening while the girl was returning to her flat from another flat after attending her private coaching class in the same apartment.
"The accused lives on the third-floor flat while he met the girl alone in the lift. He touched her inappropriately multiple times despite the girl objecting repeatedly," a close relative of the girl said, adding that the elderly man earlier also attempted to molest their daughter.
As the incident came to light, the residents of the apartment launched an agitation in front of the flat of the accused and later staged a demonstration in the apartment complex demanding his arrest. "We have been really shocked by such indecent acts inside the lift in our complex. We are feeling insecure about our daughters's safety even inside the elevator in our own apartment. Police should take stern action in this connection," a woman agitator said.
The elderly man, however, claimed that he was falsely implicated. "I only touched her caressingly as I touched her cheek in a soft and gentle way to show my affection to the little girl," he said.
Police, however, said they are yet to receive any complaint in this connection. "An agitation took place over an alleged molestation of a minor girl inside the lift of the apartment. But we haven't received any complaint from her parents yet in this connection. The situation is, however, under control now," a senior police officer of the Barrackpore commissionerate said.