Andhra Pradesh: Young Techie Jumps Off Train To Escapee Molesters, 3 Arrested

Unable to bear the sexual harassment by a group of men, a 21-year-old woman software professional working in Chennai jumped from the moving Kanyakumari-Hazrat Nizamuddin Express train at Singarayakonda in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, reported The Hindustan Times.

The Incident

The woman was returning to her hometown Vijayawada along with her two friends. She was harassed by three men, two hailed from Uttar Pradesh while other was from Bihar. The techie sustained injuries on her forehead and is undergoing treatment at the Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences at Ongole.

According to a report by The Times of India, the Railway police has nabbed the rogues in Vijayawada, which is around 180 kilometres away from the spot where the incident took place.

The three men – Harikesh Yadav, Sudhakar and Kurban – were arrested soon after the train arrived at Vijayawada station.

The woman was going to Vijayawada for her engagement ceremony on Friday. The three girls got into S1 coach to request the ticket travelling examiner to arrange for seats as they did not have confirmed tickets. The compartment was full and the three men were standing. They allegedly started harassing one of them by making obscene gestures and vulgar comments.

Two of them started molesting the women and the third one recorded it on his mobile phone. The women were frightened and they sought help from other passengers in the compartment, however, they refused to help and no one came forward. The woman then rushed to the door and jumped off the running train as it was approaching Singarayakonda station.

Since the train had already slowed down, the woman did not sustain major injuries. Later she was rushed to the hospital in an ambulance with the help of the railway police and she has been declared out of danger now.

Deputy Superintendent of Railway Police M Satti Babu told the Hindustan Times, “We have registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and 290 read with section 30 (creating public nuisance).”

This is not the first time that a young woman has fallen off a train while dealing with molesters. In July, a 19-year-old girl was pushed off the Yeshwanthpur-Mysore Express train near Maddur, about 63 kilometres away from Mysore. She was being harassed by four men and she fell 25 feet onto the river bed.

The Logical Indian community is disheartened at the drastic step which the woman had to take to save herself from molestation. We urge the authorities to take strict punitive measures against the guilty.