Indian man arrested for stalking, touching two Australian women cricketers

Indian police have arrested a man accused of stalking and inappropriately touching two Australian cricketers participating in the ICC Women's World Cup, officials said on Saturday.

The incident happened in the central Indian city of Indore on Thursday morning when the two players left their hotel to go to a cafe, police officer Rajesh Dandotiya told AFP.

"We received a complaint from the Australian team security and immediately acted, registered a case and identified the accused within six hours," Dandotiya said.

Violence against women remains a chronic issue in the world's most populous country, where an average of nearly 90 rapes a day were reported in 2022.

Dandotiya said the 30-year-old man who was arrested has a criminal record. The man followed the players and approached them "for a bad touch" about 800 metres from their hotel.

The two players were not identified by Indian police or Cricket Australia, which confirmed the incident.

"The matter was reported by team security to police, who are handling the matter," Cricket Australia said in a statement.

The Times of India newspaper reported that the team's security manager received a distress message from one of the cricketers that said "... there is a guy following us trying to grab us".

Team officials were informed and went to their location to assist the players, the paper said.

A police patrol then escorted the players safely back to the team's hotel.

Police said they have opened a case against the arrested man for "inappropriate behaviour and stalking".

Australia were playing South Africa in their pool match in Indore on Saturday.

India has made strides towards gender equality and women's empowerment in recent years but safety for women remains a serious concern.