Mumbai, Mar 12: In a broad daylight incident that has raised question marks about the safety of women in the nation’s business capital, an 18 year old girl was reportedly molested and virtually stripped by some men in the Kandivali area on Tuesday, March 11, afternoon.

According to the police, the men chased the  girl, tore off her clothes and molested her. Sources said though the girl rushed into a nearby restaurant pleading for help, the people there instead of coming to her aid, asked her to go out, in an act of utter callousness.

Police said the young woman was targeted after she picked up an argument with an autorickshaw driver over the issue of the auto fare. Soon a few men who gathered around her began to harass her. She tried to escape and get into an autorickshaw but was pulled out.

It is learnt, a passerby motorist who noticed the men chasing the girls, hit one of them and soon after a policeman on duty trapped them.

Four of them are now cooling their heels behind bars. Two of them are reportedly minors.

It is learnt,  the police had a tough time in convincing the girl and her family to file a complaint following, which an FIR was lodged. The police are on the lookout for some other persons wanted in connection with the case.