Thane: The Manpada police booked a 40-year-old man for allegedly assaulting a neighbour who went to their home to ask about groping their nine-year-old girl while she was playing with friends on the floor in Dombivli.

The accused are identified as Uttam Pandey, 45, a resident of Dombivli. The incident took place at residential complex in Adivli in Dombivli on Saturday night at 10 PM.

The escalation of the argument between two neighbours in a complex stemmed from the groping of a girl. A nine-year-old girl was held by a neighbour named Uttam, taken to his room, and within a few minutes, girl left his room. The victim went home and narrated the episode to her parents.

Thereafter, the victim's parents went to the neighbour's home and asked about the incident. Following this, the verbal brawl escalated and turned into a fight between the two. The victim's father is a police constable who is posted in Mumbai.

"We have registered a case against them under the relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act. We collected the CCTV footage from the complex. No arrests have been made yet as Pandey is admitted to a hospital for the injuries he received in the scuffle. Further investigation is underway," said Ram Chopade, Police Inspector from Manpada police station.