Sapna Gill’s molestation charge against Prithvi Shaw false: Cops tell court

PTI, Jun 27, 2023, 9:37 AM IST

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Social media influencer Sapna Gill’s allegation that Indian cricketer Prithvi Shaw had molested her at a pub in suburban Andheri in Mumbai is “false and unfounded”, the police told a court here on Monday.

The investigating officer appeared before the magistrate, presiding over the case, on Monday and submitted a report about the matter.

After the police submitted the report, Gill’s lawyer Ali Kaashif Khan requested the court to allow him to present the video footage of the alleged brawl that Gill’s friend had recorded on his phone, which went viral in the media. He also sought a CCTV grab of the incident that occurred outside the pub.

The court asked the police to submit the footage of the entire incident and adjourned the matter to June 28.

Gill had lodged a complaint before a magistrate court in Andheri seeking registration of FIR under IPC sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 509 (Word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) and 324 (Voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) against Shaw and his friend Ashish Yadav for assaulting her with a bat in February.

Before moving the court, Gill had approached the Airport police station in Andheri for registration of a molestation case against the cricketer and his friend.

Police told the court that examination of the CCTV footage of the pub shows that Gill and her friend Shobit Thakur were drunk and dancing.

Thakur wanted to record Shaw with his mobile phone but the cricketer stopped him from taking videos. On perusal of the footage, it doesn’t appear that Shaw and others molested Gill in any way, the police said.

Police said they have recorded statements of witnesses present in the pub where the alleged incident occurred and they stated that no one touched Gill inappropriately.

Police also examined CCTV footage of the Air Traffic Control (ATC) tower, which is in the vicinity, and it is seen that the social media influencer was following Shaw’s car with a baseball bat in her hand. The footage shows that she smashed the windshield of the cricketer’s car, the court was told.

The report also mentioned that police have recorded statements of CISF officials and they too said no such incident had taken place as claimed by Gill.

According to a CISF official, they were alerted about a scuffle in the area. Upon reaching the spot, he saw a car’s windshield smashed. The car driver said an argument broke out inside the pub and the manager had asked them to leave and that he wanted to lodge an FIR, as per the report.

The official saw a woman holding a baseball bat in her hand. Her male friend took the bat from her and threw it to the side when they saw police approaching the spot. None of the men at the spot was assaulting the woman, stated the report citing the statement of the CISF official.

The investigation conducted in accordance with the complaint of Gill revealed that the allegations against Prithvi Shaw and others are false /unfounded, police said.

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.

After securing bail, Gill approached the Airport police station with a complaint against Shaw, his friend Ashish Yadav, and others, for alleged molestation and outraging modesty.

She later moved the court after the police didn’t register a case against the cricketer.