Sapna Dhanaji Patil (29), a resident of Turbhe village, was arrested on Friday morning by the Turbhe police after a case was registered against her and husband Sopan Vishnu Awhad (26) for assaulting a traffic policeman. While Awhad was arrested on Thursday night, Patil was arrested on Friday morning.
Senior Police Inspector Ramchandra Deshmukh said, “As per the Criminal Procedure Code, women cannot be arrested after sunset and before sunrise, and in case of serious offences we need the magistrate’s orders to arrest after sunset. So we arrested only the husband at night and arrested the woman the next morning.”
The couple was produced before the magistrate on Friday and have been remanded to judicial custody.
Slapped and abused
The incident took place on Thursday night when Pritesh Pandurang Bhatose, a traffic constable attached with the Mahape traffic unit, stopped the couple’s vehicle from heading into a no-entry area. Awhad and Patil allegedly manhandled the constable following which Patil slapped him and Awhad abused him.
Constable Bhatose said, “Owing to some road work, the area near the subway at Mahape on Thane-Belapur road was declared a no-entry zone. While I was doing my duty of managing the traffic on Thursday, a Maruti Swift car (MH-05-CH-2953) approached the no-entry area. I immediately directed them to stop. Awhad, however, started arguing with me and his wife got down from the car and slapped me. My colleagues soon rushed to my safety. Patil then directed her husband to assemble people from Turbhe village to teach me a lesson. My colleagues informed the Turbhe police about the incident and they reached the spot.”
Criminal charges
The couple, who run a salon and spa, has been arrested under Sections 353 (assault or use of criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging duty), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of peace), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (acts done by several persons) of the Indian Penal Code.
