Mumbai: In yet another instance that highlights the innate insecurities of women commuters on Mumbai’s local train, a 30-year-old labourer allegedly flashed a woman on a moving train on the Harbour Line.
The railway police has arrested the pervert on Monday. The incident took place on Saturday. The accused had occupied the coach reserved for disabled at the time of the incident. The 23-year-old victim was travelling in a Belapur-bound local train and had boarded the train from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
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The accused reportedly boarded the local from CSMT. “The accused, identified as Krupa Patel, boarded the train from platform number one of CSMT station. Patel first began ogling at the victim and later flashed her,” said the official. The officials said that the victim began shooting the video of the act in order to register a complaint with the railway police.
“Patel alighted at Masjid station and escaped from the spot. We realised that Patel was a drug addict after conducting enquiries with our informers. Patel was arrested from the bus stand outside CSMT station after we laid a trap on him,” said the official.
Taking serious cognisance of the incident, multiple police teams were formed for the investigation, he said. Police went through the CCTV footages to identify the accused, the official said. “After his identity was established, he was finally traced near the CSMT station around 6 am on Monday and arrested,” the official said adding that further investigation into the matter is underway.
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The accused, a pavement dweller, used to work as a labourer and hails from Odisha, the official added. “We are trying to ascertain whether there are any similar cases registered against the accused in the past,” said the official. Based on her complaint, the accused was booked under section 354 (making sexually coloured remarks) and 509 (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman) of IPC, the official said. The victim works in a hospital at Seawood and resides in Nallasopara.
OTHER TALES OF WOMEN’S TORMENT
A 22-year-old Mulund woman recounted on Facebook the horror of a man publicly masturbating at her on a local train on June 15 and the railway police laughing off her complaint.
On June 29, a woman who was about to board a Nashik-bound train from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus station, when she was flashed by a man on platform number 13.
