The Government Railway Police (GRP), Borivli, have arrested three men for allegedly molesting a woman, a resident of Indore, aboard a long distance train on October 10.
According to GRP sources, the woman and her husband were travelling to Indore, Madhya Pradesh, from Mumbai aboard Avantika Express, and the accused men, who were drunk, were sitting on their opposite berth. At 10 pm, when the train halted at Borivli station, one of the men squeezed the woman’s shoulder and others started passing lewd comments at her.
When her husband intervened, the accused abused him as well. He then alerted other passengers in the compartment. On reaching Indore on October 11, the couple filed a complaint with the Indore police. Inspector Darshan Patil of the Borivli GRP said the complaint was transferred to them and they began the investigation.
The GRP obtained from the railways a list of passengers of the coach in which the incident took place. They identified and detained the men, who were travelling to Ahmedabad. During interrogation, the GRP learnt that the accused work for a courier company and would often travel for work. A few days after the incident, they were back in Mumbai.
“The complaint alleged the men were drunk and molested her. Since the woman is in Indore, we are investigating based on her statement to the police there. The accused were arrested on Friday under Sections 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code,” Patil said. The accused, Bahadur Singh Waghela, 27, Natavji Rajput, 55, and Anand Soni, 30, all residents of Bhuleshwar, are currently in police custody.
Surjitt Sahani
