Harassment on local train: Woman threatened, companion beaten at Sealdah station
The Statesman | 23 October 2024
Three youths were arrested allegedly after forcefully capturing a woman’s photographs on a running train. Police said the woman attempted to stop them from taking her picture, which led to her male companion being physically assaulted. The Railway Police (GRP) arrested the three youths from Sealdah station in connection with the incident. However, the woman claimed at the police station that the accused persons threatened to harm her. She also alleged that the GRP officers mistreated her. The complainant said, “I boarded the train from Dhakuria. A few youths boarded from Park Circus and started taking my pictures. When I protested, they responded, saying they could do whatever they wanted. Unable to control my anger, I slapped one of them. They then surrounded my friend and started beating him. This happened in front of passengers on the moving train.”
The GRP officers arrested the three accused youths when the train arrived at platform 21 of Sealdah station. The complainant’s father also alleged that when they went to file the complaint, they were threatened with arrest. He said, “Even in front of the duty GRP officer, the accused were threatening my daughter. The officer first threatened to arrest me. This raises the question of whether women are truly safe in this state.” Regarding the matter, Sealdah GRP IC Basudev Mallik said, “We have received the complaint. We have arrested three people and started an investigation.”
Everyday thousands of women travel by local trains. However, allegations of harassment have surfaced regarding incidents on these local trains leading to questions of women passenger’s safety. “First, the young woman was threatened and harassed inside the train, and later, her companion was mercilessly beaten and left on the platform at Sealdah, one of the busiest stations. We are concerned that GRP police tried to threaten the woman complainant,” said Kirity Roy, an Indian civil rights activist