Man molests woman aboard Konark Express

Mumbai: A passenger travelling on the Mumbai-Bhubaneshwar Konark Express was allegedly molested by an unidentified person at Thane station early on Sunday. The accused boarded the victim’s coach at Thane station and soon after the train left, he touched the woman inappropriately while she was brushing her teeth.

The woman raised an alarm but before anybody could come to her rescue, the accused alighted from the train and fled. The GRP registered a case on the basis of her subsequent tweet that narrated her ordeal and is scanning CCTV footage to identify the culprit.

The incident came to light after the woman tweeted her ordeal after reaching Mumbai. The woman tweeted that the incident took place at around 3.10 am on Sunday. “I was harassed by a molester in train today while travelling from Konark Express to Mumbai. He was not a passenger, he boarded the train at Thane as the train started to move he tried his luck,” stated her tweet.

The victim described the accused to be dark complexioned, wearing a black hoodie, black jeans, black backpack and decently dressed. She initially thought that he was a thief and hence held on to her handbag after sensing somebody’s presence behind her. “We are scanning the CCTV footage of the station to identify him. An officer has been sent to her residence at Nalasopara to record her statement. A case has already been registered based on her tweet,” said Samadhan Pawar, deputy commissioner of police, GRP (Central Railway).  

The Thane GRP is probing the case. Officials also stated that the train figured on the list for being manned by a team of Railway Protection Force (RPF) officials. The RPF generally man the air-conditioned coaches and hence should have been around.

The GRP will now record their statements to ascertain the sequence of events.  A case under sections of the Indian Penal Code for molestation, outraging modesty has been registered against unidentified person and further investigation is underway.