A 45-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly molesting her friend’s son, a 11-year-old- boy. She was arrested by the cops from Bandra (West).

According to the police, the boy, parents were separated three years ago. However, the 11-year-old would often visit his mother to meet his twin siblings.

The friend, who is separated from her husband, approached the court on Tuesday claiming that her 45-year-old friend has been falsely implicated by her estranged husband. Special Judge MH More directed the investigating officer to record the boy’s statement to determine whether the complaint has resulted out of domestic discord between his parents. The woman, who was arrested on January 6, will be in police custody till Thursday.

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“The minor came to Bandra to meet his mother a few days ago, but she was not home. The accused is a friend of his mother and stays in the same building. She allegedly asked him to wait for his mother at her residence. The woman allegedly took the boy home, molested him, and let him go after more than an hour. The boy was scared and didn’t say anything,” said an officer.

Police said the boy then went back to his father’s home in Khar. He started keeping to himself. “On his father’s insistence, the boy told him that the neighbour had touched him inappropriately. The father then approached the Bandra police on Saturday night and a complaint was registered under sections of the Protection of Child from Sexual Offences Act,” the officer added.

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A case was registered against the accused on Saturday. Girish Anavkar, senior inspector, Bandra police station, confirmed about the incident. The complainant is a 41-year-old gym trainer who got married in 2004. He and his wife have three children, including the 11-year old boy, and twins aged seven. The man told the police that he came to know of his wife’s extra-marital affair and they separated in March 2016. His wife and children started living with her mother.

According to the police, the accused stayed alone. “We did not arrest her at night as it is illegal. She was arrested on Sunday.” The complainant claimed that when he tried to meet his children, his wife objected. Eventually, he stopped visiting them. He told the police that when his 11-year-old son visited him in October 2016, he fell ill and extended the stay. This angered the mother who did not allow the son to enter the house. The boy had been living with his father since, said the complainant.

Police said the boy’s mother had the custody of two of the three children. The 11-year-old boy, the eldest of the children, lived with his father.

The complainant told the police that when his son tried to meet his siblings a few times in 2016, his wife’s friend, the 45-year-old accused woman, did not allow him to enter the house and abused him sexually. The accused woman also threatened to harm the boy’s siblings if he told anyone about the abuse, said the complainant.

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Based on this, a complaint under the POCSO Act and other IPC sections were filed at the police station against the woman.

On Tuesday, during the woman’s second remand hearing, the boy’s mother told the court that the case was false and had been lodged at her husband’s behest. The police told the court that the probe is still underway, including investigation of the accused’s phone, where photos of the minor have been found.