Concerns over women’s safety at Kolkata 5-star hotel after back-to-back arrests

Concerns have been raised about female safety at a high-end hotel in Kolkata for the second time within a week. On Sunday night, a 56-year-old man named Palash Ray was arrested after allegedly assaulting two women from Nagaland in the hotel lobby. The police identified Ray using CCTV footage and tracked his movements before apprehending him from his hotel room.

The victims, who were in the lobby around 12:30-1 am, reported that an unknown man had touched them inappropriately, violating their modesty. Ray has been charged with assault or criminal force with intent to outrage modesty.

This incident is the second serious crime reported at the upscale hotel in just seven days. Earlier, on September 27, a 24-year-old man named Mohammad Rafe Azim was arrested for allegedly assaulting a 20-year-old woman and using obscene language inside the hotel's nightclub at around 2 am. The victim claimed that Azim and his associates blocked her path, physically attacked her, and used abusive language before leaving.

Azim was charged with outraging modesty, insulting a woman's modesty, causing hurt voluntarily, wrongful restraint, and abetment. He was arrested from Tiljala, and the investigation is ongoing, according to Kunal Agarwal, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime).