A day after a 21-year-old woman complained that a co-passenger sexually harassed her by flashing his genitals at the Jor Bagh metro station, the Delhi police on Friday said they have registered an FIR in the case and efforts are being made to nab the accused.
Following the incident, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation issued a statement that all possible cooperation is being extended to the law and order agencies to take necessary action in the case. The National Commission for Women wrote to Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana demanding immediate arrest of the accused, while the Delhi Commission for Women issued a notice to the police seeking strict action.
The incident came to light when the victim, a law student and a resident of Gurugram, narrated her ordeal in a thread of tweets on Thursday night.
The victim wrote that she boarded the metro from Huda City Centre station around 1.05 p.m. Inside the train, an unidentified man approached her and asked her the route to Delhi University. After she helped him, she got down at the Jor Bagh station around 1.50 p.m. and sat at the platform to book a cab. The woman said the man, who got down after her, approached her again on the pretext of confirming the address. While she was helping him, he flashed her. The woman said she got scared and ran from the spot.
She said she asked a Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) jawan for help but he told her “to go upstairs and talk about the incident”. The woman said she somehow managed to go upstairs and found another security person who took her to the CCTV room to check the footage.
CCTV footage scanned
“The accused could be seen following me. He harassed me once people left the platform and nobody could be seen,” she said. The man was seen boarding another train from the platform.
“I asked them [CISF personnel] to do something about it but instead they started blaming me and said dat I shouldve created a scene & tht theres nothing they can do now since he managed to leave (sic),” the woman tweeted.
The victim told The Hindu that she will pursue the case till justice is served. “This was the first time I was a victim of harassment in Delhi metro. It was traumatising,” the victim said. She said the public transport system lacks security measures for women. “The police personnel should be quick and prompt in dealing with such cases,” she added.
Reacting to her tweets, the DMRC said it takes the issue of the safety of women commuters very seriously. “Please provide exact time of the incident. In such cases, commuters are requested to immediately report the matter to the nearest metro staff or contact customer care centre at the station. They can also call DMRC helpline no. 155370 or CISF helpline no. 155655 so that immediate help can be provided,” the DMRC said in its tweet.
The Delhi police said they are scanning the CCTV footage and different teams have been deployed to nab the accused. Responding to the allegation that security persons did not help the victim when she approached them, the police said they will take up the matter with the CISF on why there was a delay in the investigation.
DCW chairperson Swati Maliwal sought details of the FIR, CCTV footage, along with the details of the security personnel who refused to help the victim, and a copy of the action taken against them.
This is not the first instance of a woman facing sexual harassment on a metro train. In January 2022, a 23-year-old victim was touched inappropriately at the Kashmere Gate metro station in a crowded coach, and when she left the platform, the accused followed her for some time.
Two months later, a 22-year-old victim complained that two men stalked her while she was travelling from the Kashmere Gate metro station. They continued to follow her when she got down at the Rohini station. She later contacted DMRC officials who told her to approach them whenever such an issue arises.
