The 25-year-old man, who was recently arrested by the Mumbai police for allegedly masturbating at an American woman, has said that he was only urinating and that the incident is a case of misunderstanding.
“I was urinating there. When I finished, the foreign woman came from behind and saw me zip up my shorts. Our eyes met and suddenly she started screaming,” the man told Mid-Day.
According to the Mid-Day report, the man said that he had gone out on a morning walk and when he did not find any public toilets around, he decided to relieve himself between two parked car. That is when the woman saw him.
His family too has claimed his innocence and said that the woman could have filed a complaint in the police station instead of uploading his picture on social media.
“We have been staying in Colaba since childhood, and foreigners regularly visit this area, but my brother has never been involved in any such act in the past. People are calling it perverted and shameful. I want to tell everyone that my brother is innocent,” his sister told the paper.
The incident went viral after the woman tweeted a picture of the man alleging that he had masturbated at her and then ran away on being confronted.
Public outrage and support from the CM's office put pressure on the police and they used WhatsApp to track the man.
An FIR was filed against him under section 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult modesty of a woman) of IPC on Tuesday and on Wednesday the man was arrested. He was later released on bail.