Man held for masturbating in front of Sumeet Raghavan's wife, actor says ' we need to speak up'

Pic Courtesy: IANS

New Delhi: In a shocking incident, popular television and film actor Sumeet Raghavan took to his Twitter handle to describe a harrowing experience where his wife, Chinmayee Surve, who is a known face in Marathi cinema had a terrible encounter.

Sumeet tweeted about the incident when Chinmayee was out for some work in the Vile Parle area, Mumbai, when a man in a white BMW, allegedly masturbated in front of her and fled the spot before she could react. However, the wife was smart enough to note down the last digits of the car.

A white BMW with last 4 digits 1985 needs to be traced. The driver wearing a grey safari who had parked near #ParleTilakSchool #VileParleEast started masturbating in front of my wife. Before she could slap him he escaped. She could note down just the last 4 digits@MumbaiPolice — Sumeet (@sumrag) February 19, 2018

The actor reported this incident on the micro-blogging site tagging the Mumbai Police. And thankfully, the culprit was nabbed down by the cops in flat two hours. The actor confirmed the news via a tweet.

I have lodged a complaint with the traffic as well as the local police. https://t.co/OYniCE4M6u

— Sumeet (@sumrag) February 19, 2018

After lodging the F.I.R at 4.15pm,the cops have nabbed the bastard in 2 hrs flat.. Hats off @MumbaiPolice gratitude and respect. #VileParlePoliceStation and the concerned officers #Salute
God forbid if at all such things happen,please go to the cops. Don't suffer. Speak up. — Sumeet (@sumrag) February 19, 2018

Talking about the disturbing incident, Sumeet told Hindustan Times, “Thank God, the cops managed to get hold of him. Having said that, it is not only about nabbing the culprit, it is about how we go about changing this mindset. There is a school nearby; he must have done the same to girls or boys. They must not have spoken about it, but it must have scarred them. We need to learn to speak up.”

Adding further he said, “It would be easy for me to say that we just witnessed it. But we did not want to do that. We want to let people know that it is completely okay to speak up about such things. In fact, the right way to deal with such situations is to speak up.”

He pinpointed the need for vigilance and security, adding, “This could happen to anyone and we need stricter rules to curb this. I am really worried about the mindset of such people. This happened in Mumbai in broad daylight. It is very scary and disturbing.”

Unreal ! I’ve heard of so many such incidents on the Lokhandwala backroad from my own friends ... beyond disgusting !! I’m so happy the MumbaiPolice caught the pervert !!! — Urvashi Rautela (@urvashirautelaj) February 20, 2018

I applaud my actor friend @sumrag & his wife #Chinmayi for getting the pervert arrested & also thank @CPMumbaiPolice @MumbaiPolice for their prompt action.  — Ashoke Pandit (@ashokepandit) February 20, 2018

Well done chinmayi and Sumeet .... kudos to the Mumbai police for getting the guy — gautami kapoor (@gautamikapoor1) February 20, 2018

Thanks pandey.. Need to find that bastard. There are school girls too. That bastard must have done this to them as well.. https://t.co/dA3hlSVhil — Sumeet (@sumrag) February 19, 2018

Several TV and film celebrities expressed their shock over the incident and even backed the actor and his wife for showing courage and speaking up against such an act publicly. Sumeet is a renowned face in Marathi film industry and is best remembered for playing an interesting character in hit sitcom 'Sarabhai Vs Sarabhai'.