 "Mumbai woman flashed, masturbated at on train: After railway police laugh off complaint, Suresh Prabhu orders probe")
After the railway police reportedly laughed off a complaint from a 22-year-old Mumbai woman who was flashed and masturbated at by a man in a Dadar-bound train, railway minister Suresh Prabhu ordered an enquiry and promised action against any errant officers. Prabhu tweeted:
Have ordered enquiry in the matter.Strict action will be taken against the guilty https://t.co/8bYODQY0OK
— Suresh Prabhu (@sureshpprabhu) July 9, 2017
The incident took place on 15 June. However, after the woman took to Facebook and wrote about her experience, the story went viral. On 15 June, the woman was travelling home after meeting her friends in Borivali. Boarding a Dadar-bound local, she sat in ladies’ compartment which was separated from the handicapped compartment by just a railing. A woman was seated on her left, and five other woman were also in the compartment. The alleged flasher, who was in the handicapped compartment, was facing the lady seated to her left. The woman wrote in her Facebook post:
“I’m looking at my phone and I see him waving at the girl through the railing. He’s put his hands through and has reached half the distance to the girl’s face. I cannot hear him, I’m wearing headphones. I reduce the music, out of curiosity and also to see whether she needs help, I do not turn. Looking down at my phone, I hear him calling her m******d. I heard it at least six times in the 30 seconds I listened. I looked at him, our eyes met and I looked down again (sic).”
The woman wrote that the lady initially ignored the man, perhaps thinking he was mentally challenged. However, he turned to face me and repeated the action, she wrote. [caption id=“attachment_3795949” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] The man then allegedly flashed her and began masturbating in full public view. She claimed he also threatened her with rape. She further wrote:
“When Kandivli came, the man got out of the compartment and started walking towards the doors of the ladies compartment. Six women who could easily take him down, started yelling. I stood up and walked towards the door. He told me he would rape me. I told him to do it. (I only did so because I knew he wouldn’t and because the time permitted me, so did the space.) (sic)”
The woman added that she called the railway police helpline, but her plea was laughed off by the man on the other end of the phone. “I told the person on the line all the details. The train was just approaching Kandivli. Which compartment, what time. All of it. Then I told him that this person had also called us what he did. And then the person on the helpline laughed. He found it funny. I asked him whether they’d pick this person up at Kandivli. He cut the call (sic).” After the post went viral, deputy commissioner of police (Western Railway) Purushottam Karad promised to look into the matter, The Times of India reported. “We have to check which helpline the woman commuter made the call to. There are two helpline numbers: One is railway police and the other is Railway Protection Force (RPF). We will talk to the woman,” Karad told The Times of India.
