The Government Railway Police (GRP), Ernakulam, on Thursday arrested three persons accused of sexually assaulting a minor girl and manhandling her father who questioned their actions aboard a moving train.
The arrested are Joy, Sijo, and Suresh, all residents of Chalakudy in Thrissur district. Two other accused have also been reportedly identified.
“They were picked up from different locations. All of them were acquaintances on account of being regular passengers,” said a GRP official. They had reportedly gone into hiding and had switched off their mobile phones, making it hard for the police to trace them.
The incident took place on the Ernakulam-Guruvayur passenger train shortly after it departed the Ernakulam Junction station on Saturday around 8 p.m. The father-daughter duo were returning to their home in Thrissur when the girl was allegedly accosted by the five-member gang who also shoved the father for questioning their actions. The gang also allegedly verbally abused the father-daughter duo and tried to capture a video of the girl on their mobile phones.
While the father had alerted the guard on the train and was told that the police would come to their aid at Aluva station, it failed to happen. Following this, they lodged a complaint with the GRP in Thrissur on their arrival. By that time the accused had disembarked at various stations. The case was then transferred to the GRP, Ernakulam.
The accused remain charged under Sections 7 and 8 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act and IPC Sections 354 (Assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 294 (b) (sings, recites or utters any obscene song, ballad or words, in or near any public place) among others. They will be produced in court on Friday.
