Indian arrested for sexual harassment of Maldivian

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The Criminal Court on Tuesday remanded him for 10 days.

Mukhtar Ansari is accused of sexual harassment and touching someone without that person's consent, reported local "Avas" news website in a Dhivehi language report on Wednesday.

The local news outlet "Mihaaru", in a Dhivehi language report, identified his age as 22 years.

The court ruled that police had presented "enough evidence" against him, "Avas" reported, while "Mihaaru" stated that the court had established that he was arrested in accordance with legal procedures.

According to “Avas”, "public complaints have increased in recent times that out of the expatriates accused of crimes, legal measures were not taken against Indian nationals and that they were only deported".

In February, Immigration authorities deported an Indian national while he was indicted of sexual harassment of a minor and while his case was under appeal at the High Court, according to "Mihaaru".

Immigration authorities claimed that he was deported because the Prosecutor General's Office (PGO) had not informed that his case was ongoing at the court - an accusation PGO denies.