Mumbai: Blind teen who trapped molester lights up the way for classmates
TNN | Updated: Dec 27, 2018, 04:35 IST
Picture for representation purpose onlyMUMBAI: She was just four-and-half months into her martial arts course, but the training seemed to have equipped a 15-year-old visually challenged girl enough to take on a man who had groped her while boarding a local train from Dadar station on December 17.
On Wednesday, a week after the incident, the girl was felicitated by her school amid cheers from her classmates and her father. “I will go to court as many times as I’m summoned to depose against the molester. He should be given the harshest punishment so that he doesn’t repeat the act,” she told TOI.
The youngest of four sisters, the plucky teen is blind since birth. She was enrolled in school only after five years of age as her parents were not aware of a special school for the visually challenged. Currently in class VI, her father drops her and picks her up from school every day.
On December 17, she and her father boarded the 8.12pm local from Dadar station to head home. “My father was ahead of me as we got into the compartment reserved for the disabled. I felt someone touch me inappropriately from behind. I caught hold of his hand and twisted it. The man probably did not expect this reaction, and stumbled and fell. I alerted my father,” she said. An altercation broke out after her father slapped the man, later identified as Vishal Singh, a computer maintenance technician from Mulund.
“The man claimed that he had accidentally touched me. But other passengers came to our rescue and one of them called the Government Railway Police at Matunga station,” said the teenager. “The officers were good to me and my father. The senior inspector said I was like his younger sister. The police told me that Singh had molested a woman at Churchgate in the past. I was horrified”
Advising women not to stay silent and instead put up a fight if victimised, the teen said: “Never let someone abuse you. Don’t give up. Train yourself in self-defence. Always carry a safety pin when travelling in train to use it as a weapon. The police are always there to help you, but you must lodge a complaint.”
Commending her bravery, her school principal said she was an inspiration for all women. “We start educating our students about ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’ at an early age. I’m happy she used her training in martial arts to nab the harasser,” the principal said.
The girl’s father said he was “very proud” of his daughter and is now not worried how she will look after herself in future.
On Wednesday, a week after the incident, the girl was felicitated by her school amid cheers from her classmates and her father. “I will go to court as many times as I’m summoned to depose against the molester. He should be given the harshest punishment so that he doesn’t repeat the act,” she told TOI.
The youngest of four sisters, the plucky teen is blind since birth. She was enrolled in school only after five years of age as her parents were not aware of a special school for the visually challenged. Currently in class VI, her father drops her and picks her up from school every day.
On December 17, she and her father boarded the 8.12pm local from Dadar station to head home. “My father was ahead of me as we got into the compartment reserved for the disabled. I felt someone touch me inappropriately from behind. I caught hold of his hand and twisted it. The man probably did not expect this reaction, and stumbled and fell. I alerted my father,” she said. An altercation broke out after her father slapped the man, later identified as Vishal Singh, a computer maintenance technician from Mulund.
“The man claimed that he had accidentally touched me. But other passengers came to our rescue and one of them called the Government Railway Police at Matunga station,” said the teenager. “The officers were good to me and my father. The senior inspector said I was like his younger sister. The police told me that Singh had molested a woman at Churchgate in the past. I was horrified”
Advising women not to stay silent and instead put up a fight if victimised, the teen said: “Never let someone abuse you. Don’t give up. Train yourself in self-defence. Always carry a safety pin when travelling in train to use it as a weapon. The police are always there to help you, but you must lodge a complaint.”
Commending her bravery, her school principal said she was an inspiration for all women. “We start educating our students about ‘good touch’ and ‘bad touch’ at an early age. I’m happy she used her training in martial arts to nab the harasser,” the principal said.
The girl’s father said he was “very proud” of his daughter and is now not worried how she will look after herself in future.
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