However, the victim said the police was not cooperative in arresting the accused. She said the police did not register the FIR till she proved her gender. The transwoman, who shared the incident on social media, was asked to produce a gender certificate by the police before they filed for an FIR, according to a Hindustan Times report.

According to the victim, she was “touched inappropriately” by Bhatt at Dadar station on Friday. She was travelling from Navi Mumbai and the incident happened when she got down at the Dadar station to board the Goregaon-bound train. After the incident, she immediately raised an alarm and dragged the accused to the GRP to register a complaint.

However, she said the police asked her to produce her gender certificate before registering the FIR. The police even called woman officers to get her medically examined. The victim then told the police that she was not injured but molested. “They wanted proof that I was entitled to register a molestation complaint to present in court,” the victim told HT.

Later, the victim submitted the gender certificate to the police. Two hours after she submitted proof, the police registered an FIR and arrested the accused on Friday night. The victim said even though the police wanted to help, they first wanted to ascertain her gender identity.

The police said an FIR under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) has been registered against Bhatt. He will soon be produced before the court, police said.