Repalle gangrape: ‘they beat up my father and dragged my mother away’

‘CCTV in railway station not working’; women’s commission seeks report on security at stations

The 27-year-old woman, a mother of three and is six months pregnant, was comforting her baby in her lap when the three drunk youth, unmindful of her condition, raped her at the Repalle railway station late on Saturday night, the police said.

Two of the children ran along with their father to the Repalle town police station, located 200 metres from the railway station, seeking help.

The two platforms in the railway station were deserted when the crime was committed, and the CCTV camera installed was not in working condition, investigation revealed.

“Five passengers were in the waiting hall, and the rape survivor and her family were asleep at the end of Platform No. 1. The Station Master had locked the office and left. One policeman of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) was present in the station. Personnel of the Government Railway Police (GRP) were not present,” a police officer who visited the scene of crime told The Hindu on Sunday.

Son’s statement

“The accused had an altercation with my father, beat him up, and dragged my mother by her hair. As there was nobody in the railway station, my father rushed to the police station. I and my six-year-old brother were in panic and ran behind our father,” the eight-year-old son of the woman told the police.

Andhra Pradesh Women’s Commission Chairperson Vasireddy Padma, who spoke with the railway authorities, sought a report on the security at the railway stations.

Second incident

This was the second such incident reported in a railway station in the State. On April 16, 2022, four persons had gangraped a woman from Odisha in Gurajala railway station in Palnadu district. The migrant worker had come to Andhra Pradesh in search of work. The police had arrested one person in the case.