RPF to reach out to women commuters on safety soon

A questionnaire is ready. This will be a face-to-face campaign with the women commuters and students and not through any private agency or voluntary organisation, sources said.

Testing times:Stepping up safety measures and round-the-clock security are high on priority list. —Photo: M. Vedhan

The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is about to launch a campaign to get feedback from women commuters on the lacuna in security arrangements in railway stations.

In the aftermath of the murder of software engineer Swathi at the Nungambakkam railway station on June 24, the RPF has decided to interact with women’s groups and girl students in the city and suburbs too to get station-specific inputs.

A questionnaire is ready. This will be a face-to-face campaign with the women commuters and students and not through any private agency or voluntary organisation, sources said.

At the Nungambakkam railway station on Sunday, women commuters waiting to board suburban trains to Tambaram and Chengalpattu said that following Swathi’s gruesome murder, the police had to necessarily provide security for women in all railway stations at all times.

Women commuters said the railway administration should speed up installing CCTV cameras and also implement other security measures without further delay.

‘Long overdue’

Adequate lighting on approach roads to the stations, tail-end areas of platforms, foot overbridges and subways should be given priority, they demanded.

P. Lakshmi, who was waiting to board the ladies’ compartment with her mother, said she travelled on Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS) services everyday, but not that frequently in the suburban network. “The security has been increased only after the murder. These precautionary measures should have been put in place long ago,” she said.

‘Well done City police’

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Women commuters lauded the Chennai City police for solving the Swathi murder case and arresting the suspect at his home, even though it took a week.

“A few days after the murder, people became impatient and began to raise doubts about the police investigation. Their faith on the police has now been restored. With the arrest of the suspect, the City police have now demonstrated that they are the best in crime investigation,” said S. Jayalakshmi of Maraimalai Nagar.

M. Yasodha, another commuter, said the murder of the young woman was tragic, but only the City police could have nabbed the suspect in such a short span of time considering they obtained very few clues initially. The police should give top priority to safety of women commuters henceforth, she said.