West Bengal horror: Pregnant woman raped in moving train; accused arrested
Times of India | 8 August 2026
JALPAIGURI: A tribal woman was allegedly raped inside a compartment of the moving 15484 Sikkim Mahananda Express, which was bound for Alipurduar Junction, on Thursday night. According to the victim’s husband, the woman was two months pregnant.
The woman, who hails from the Samuktala police station area in Alipurduar district, was returning from her cousin’s house in Delhi. She had boarded the compartment meant for specially abled passengers at Old Delhi Junction on Wednesday.
On Thursday, when the train left Hasimara railway station at 8.24pm, the compartment was reportedly empty except for the woman and the accused.
As the train crossed Garopara station, the man allegedly took advantage of the empty coach and raped the woman.
A few railway electrical staff members were travelling in the adjoining coach. Hearing the woman’s cries for help, they realised something was wrong and raised an alarm through the Rail Madad app. When the train reached Alipurduar Junction at 9.19pm, GRP and RPF personnel intercepted the train and apprehended the man.
The accused was identified as Gautam Mahato, 30. A resident of Kamrup in Assam, Mahato had boarded the train at Siliguri Junction. A preliminary investigation found that he was a ragpicker who had left Assam following floods in the state.
Mahato was produced before an Alipurduar court and remanded to police custody for five days. The woman has been admitted to Alipurduar Railway Hospital and is doing fine at present, a senior GRP official said.