Social media influencer Sapna Gill filed a criminal complaint before a Mumbai court, seeking registration of a police case against India cricketer Prithvi Shaw for allegedly assaulting and outraging her modesty at a club in suburban Andheri two months ago. The complaint was filed against Shaw and his friend Ashish Yadav before the Andheri magistrate's court for registration of an FIR under IPC sections 354 (assault of criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) 509 (word/gesture/act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), Gill's lawyer Ali Kaashif Khan said.
The complainant alleged the 23-year-old cricketer assaulted her with a bat in February. A medical certificate issued by a government hospital has been annexed with the complaint to support charges against the accused, Khan said.
A separate complaint was filed against Airport police station personnel for not discharging their duties and registering an FIR (first information report) under IPC section 354 against Shaw and others on an earlier complaint of Gill, the lawyer said.
Both the matters are expected to be heard by the court on April 17. Gill was arrested in February along with some others in connection with an alleged attack on Shaw following an argument over clicking selfies at a suburban hotel. She is currently out on bail.
After being granted bail in the assault case, Gill had approached the Airport police station in Andheri with a complaint against Shaw, his friend Ashish Yadav and others for allegedly outraging her modesty. However, the police were yet to register an FIR against the Mumbai batsman. In the complaint before the court, Gilll claimed she and her friend Shobhit Thakur are regular patrons of the upmarket club, where the latter spotted Shaw who was partying with his friends and was allegedly drunk.
Thakur, a cricket fan, approached Shaw for selfies, but his move was met with "hostility", the application alleged. "Thakur, who is just a teenager, was unaware of the brutality of the drunken mob. Thakur was helpless and was unable to defend himself. Hence, she (Gill) intervened and entered the fray trying to stop Shaw and others from further harming and injuring Thakur,” as per the complaint.
When Gill was attempting to shield Thakur from the assault, Shaw touched her inappropriately and pushed her away, it said. Hence, the accused has committed the illegal and heinous crime of outraging her modesty, the complaint alleged.
