Despite Delhi Metro prohibiting the entry of male commuters in the women coach, male commuters keep entering these coaches with impunity. The statistics compiled by the Delhi Police is self-explanatory as the number of the male passengers being prosecuted for entering reserve coaches has increased. The number of men penalised for travelling in women’s coaches in the last year was 15 times higher than the previous years as statistics show that 15,873 persons were challaned for travelling in ladies’ coaches in the last year, as compared to 10,004 prosecutions in 2012, 892 men were fined in 2011. Fine for the said offence is Rs 250 and the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) have collected over Rs 39 lakh in fines in the last year.
Special drive against the entry of male commuters in the women’s coach was initiated by the Crime Branch of Delhi Police. They were fined Rs 250 and when an offender could not pay the penalty, he was directed to appear before a court to deposit the amount. “We have started with a special drive in women’s compartments few years ago to nab men travelling in reserved ladies’ coaches,” a senior police officer said, adding that a team of women Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel was also constituted who made announcements inside the reserved compartments, informing them on safety, and requesting them not to board empty compartments, especially at night.
Attributing the spurt in cases of males caught travelling in ladies coaches to increased drives, officials said that due to regular drives, the number of people fined is much higher in 2013. A fine for the offence is Rs 250 and the DMRC has collected Rs 39 lakh through fines in the last year, while over 25 lakh was collected in 2012. Meanwhile, in 2013, 5,587 users were penalised by the authority for breaching peace and creating nuisance by using abusive and filthy language in the station premises or in coaches while travelling in an inebriated state.
The sleuths of Crime Branch travel along with the Joint CISF (Central Industrial Security Force) and DMRC teams on all six lines in plain clothes. They conduct random checks to make sure men do not sneak into women’s coaches. “We have deployed our police personnel in plain clothes and they are travelling along with DMRC officials in all the six lines of Delhi Metro. In morning, they travelled in to catch male passengers travelling in the ladies coaches and in evening, they starting travelling at 5 pm till 11 pm,” the officer added.