In shocking incident that revived the memories of the rape of a mentally challenged minor girl on board a suburban local in 2002 and a few more similar incidents, a woman was molested and assaulted by a 35-year-old man in a running local train in Mumbai on Thursday night.
The incident took place at around 11 pm when the victim woman and accused were travelling in suburban local Kalyan to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) on the Central Railway network. Both of them were in a coach reserved for handicapped passengers and cancer patients.
Acting swiftly, the Railway police arrested the accused and booked under sections 356 (molestation), 307 (attempt to murder), 323 (causing hurt) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC. Police identified the accused as one Rafique Chinkan Ali Khan, a taxi driver residing at Byculla in south Mumbai.
A video of the incident shot by a handicapped co-passenger went viral on Friday morning.
The video, shot from a smartphone, showed the man turning violent and beating the victim mercilessly. At one stage, the victim woman is seen near the foot board attempting to jump out of the train.
“We have arrested the accused and the investigations are in progress,” Senior Police Inspector Nitin Bobde attached to Dadar railway police station said.
Preliminary investigations have revealed that the victim woman and the accused boarded the train at Dombivli Railway Station near Kalyan at around 10 pm.
According to police, the accused and the victim woman had known each other for the last few years and the woman used to lend him money on a friendly basis.
When they were travelling together, the victim woman demanded the accused to return the money that he owed her. Enraged by her demand, the accused started assaulting the victim woman in full public view.
Since the handicap-section is partitioned from the ladies coach, the women commuters from there screamed and sought help.
Meanwhile, the accused dragged the victim woman by her hair, attempted to strangulate her. He also molested her and tore off her clothes. At one stage, he even fell down, but got up again.
Before long, the passengers alerted Government Railway Police. When the train reached Dadar railway station, GRP personnel rushed in and took the accused into custody.
There have been similar sexual assaults and molestation on board running suburban locals in the past.