The number of molestation cases registered on Central Railway (CR) routes has increased from nine last year to 40 between January and August this year. Officials claim this could only be attributed to more women voluntarily coming forward to register complaints.
The stations that have seen a rise in the number of cases being registered this year are Dadar, Kurla, Thane and Kalyan. These stations see high footfall and the accused seem to have taken advantage of the situation.
Senior divisional railway commissioner Sachin Bhalode said, “Some of our people think that the numbers might have increased as we have conducted many drives. But it wouldn’t make a difference because if women don’t want to register complaints, no amount of drives would help”
He added, “We think women have become aware and refuse to tolerate hooligans.”
An accused either takes advantage of the fact that there is absolutely no rush on the platforms during odd hours or that too many people are in the station, and he uses this to his advantage — especially on the stairs that lead to footover-bridges.
