Mumbai woman commuter assaulted, molested in train; accused arrested

A woman was molested and assaulted by a man in a moving suburban train bound for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus late on Thursday night, police said on Friday. The accused has been arrested.

The accused -- identified as cabbie from Byculla, Rafiq Khan -- and the victim were known to each other and he owed her money over which they had an alteration in the train.

The incident occurred around 11 p.m. on Thursday. A handicapped commuter on an adjoining seat shot a video of the entire incident.

The video, lasting a few minutes, went viral on social media and also spurred police into immediate action.

Khan, 32, is seen suddenly pouncing on the woman sitting on the opposite seat in the handicapped compartment. He then drags her by the hair and attempts to strangle her.

He also tore off her clothes even as other co-commuters raised an alarm to alert a policeman in the adjoining compartment of the speeding train.

When she resisted and pushed him off her, he fell on the train floor, but got up and again lunged at the woman on the seat as she screamed for help.

According to Government Railway Police Dadar Senior Inspector Nitin Bobde, the woman had lend money to her attacker on a friendly basis as she had known him over a few years.

Late on Thursday, they caught the suburban train from Dombivali, Thane bound for CSMT and en route, the victim demanded her money back from Khan and asked him to stop harassing her.

Apparently angered by this, Khan abused, molested and attacked her in full public view even as the train was approaching Dadar station.

A Government Railway Police team, waiting at Dadar, took Khan into custody as he deboarded. He was subsequently arrested and produced before a court here this evening which remanded him to police custody till April 9.

Meanwhile, ruling ally Shiv Sena lawmaker Neelam Gorhe shot off a letter to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urging him to take concrete steps to stop the growing incidents of violence against women commuters.

She recounted several recent incidents in Mumbai suburban trains where women were targeted and said the time has come to provide police security for ladies compartments even during daytime.

--IANS

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