Woman travelling alone in Chennai train assaulted in an attempt to rape

CHENNAI: Saftey of women in the city is turing out to be a huge concern. An alert Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable prevented a woman from being sexually assaulted on a running train on Monday night. The woman was alone in the MRTS train compartment.The youth, who was later identified as S Satyaraj (26) of Velachery, was arrested. The RPF constable K Shivaji heard screams from the ladies compartment and rescued her as the train halted at Park Town railway station around 11.45pm. 

The victim was lying unconscious on the train floor with her dress torn and was bleeding from her lips. “The victim had boarded the train at Velachery around 11.30pm. I along with two other policemen were checking all compartments, when I spotted the victim reading a newspaper in a women’s compartment. I asked her to shift to the ladies compartment in the front, but she insisted to stay back. So I went patrolling. As the train left Chintadripet station, I heard screams.

As the train was slowing down at Park station, I jumped off and rushed to the compartment, where I found the woman on the train floor partially unconscious and the man trying to force himself on her,” said Shivaji. “I immediately pulled the man and called the two other policemen who reached us at Beach station. The man was in an inebriated condition,”  the constable said.The victim was taken to a government hospital. Police sources said she had suffered injuries as she had put up a fight against the assailant.

Preliminary investigation revealed that the woman was returning from her relative’s house at  Velachery. “She was residing in a locality in north Chennai and was looking for a job. We are yet to get the full statement from the victim as she is yet to recover fully,” said a senior railway police officer. Satyaraj was working as an electrician. “He had boarded the train at Velachery and was in an inebriated condition. At every station, he got off the train and kept boarding different compartments,” a police officer said. Meanwhile, Pon Manickavel, Inspector-General of Police (Railways) congratulated Shivaji and rewarded him with Rs 5,000.