Italian woman sexually harassed by FRRO officer
FRRO officer taken into custody for allegedly sexually harassing an Italian national.
The victim, who was in need of an exit visa, reportedly approached the FRRO officer, Krishnakumar, after she was given his number by another visa officer, Shivakumar.
The police said the victim had come to the city for a project with a private firm in 2011, but it was cancelled recently, leaving her unemployed. Since her visa into the country had been issued in the company’s name, the victim needed to apply for a separate exit visa for herself and her son, who had accompanied her to the city.
On November 27, the victim contacted Krishnakumar, who told her to meet him in HSR Layout. When she met him, however, the FRRO officer allegedly demanded a bribe of Rs 20,000-60,000 to help her get a visa. The victim refused, saying she did not have that kind of money, and requested Krishnakumar to help her out.
On the pretext of dropping the victim and her son home since it was late, the suspect allegedly asked them to sit in his car. He then started misbehaving with the victim and reportedly molested her in front of the child.The victim, who was scared, finally lodged a complaint with the police on December 4. But soon after, she started getting threat calls from someone speaking on behalf of Krishnakumar. The caller repeatedly threatened the victim to withdraw her complaint, saying he would get her debarred from ever entering India again unless she complied. The HSR police swung into action and detained both Shivakumar and Krishnakumar.
When the victim made a positive identification of Krishnakumar, he was arrested. A case has been registered, and further investigations are on.