A 22-year-old final-year architecture student of Jamia Millia Islamia (JMI) was allegedly sexually harassed by a rickshaw-puller outside New Delhi metro station on Thursday.
The police said that the accused, Khurshid, was arrested on Friday evening.
The victim, who was able to detain the accused for a while, said she made three PCR calls and waited for nearly an hour for an officer to show up. When no one came to her aid, she left the area and let the accused go.
The police have suspended two officers for delay in responding to the call.
The 22-year-old, from Jaipur, said she had stepped out of the metro station around 6.30 p.m. and was looking for a rickshaw to go to Paharganj. “This person stopped in front of me. I asked him how much to go to Paharganj and he said ₹200. He was clearly drunk, so I ignored and walked past him,” she said. But the accused allegedly followed her and told her that she would have to take his rickshaw. He also allegedly grabbed her hand.
“At this point, I lost my cool and dragged him to the police post, opposite Gate Number 1 of the metro station,” she said.
The post, however, was allegedly latched from the outside and there were no officers nearby. The victim said that her phone was out of battery so she used the mobile of a passer-by.
By then, a group of 15-20 people had gathered.
“I called the number written on the wall of the police post. An officer picked up and said he would send someone in five minutes,” she said. After 15 minutes elapsed and no one came, she called the number again and got the same reply. She called a third time 15 minutes later but to no avail.
“For a good 45-50 minutes, I waited for the police to come help me but they did not,” she said.
The student claimed that during this time the accused, as well as other rickshaw pullers, mocked her.
Crowd mocked her
“I made him sit in a chair and made sure he did not leave. He poked fun at me and asked me to sit next to him. Others told me that no one would come and laughed. Unfortunately, that is exactly what happened,” she said.
The student admitted that she thrashed the accused when he asked her to sit next to him, and he started bleeding. “At one point, he asked me to let him go and he was bleeding. Tired of waiting for the cops, I just picked up my bag and left,” she said.
On Friday morning, the girl shared her ordeal on Twitter after which the police took cognizance and approached her.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) Parvaiz Ahmed said the accused was arrested on Friday and a case has been registered under Section 354A of the IPC.
He added that two officers were also suspended.
“Duty officer Head Constable Chanderbhan, to whom the call was made, and Investigating Officer ASI Shibu, to whom the call was assigned, have been suspended for delay in response,” he said.
