The numbers are out and it's not good news. In January and February this year alone, authorities from the Central Railway (CR) have registered 529 cases of sexual harassment in local trains
According to officials, they have received numerous complaints from female passengers saying that they have to endure men passing lewd comments and whistling at them from trains.
Many women have to endure lewd comments and wolf whistles from men on the platform or travelling in a train. Representation pic
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“Often, female passengers have cried while describing the harassment they have been forced to endure. This has become a serious issue for us. Women have complained about men trying to grope them while they are inside the train and it passes the platform,” said a CR official, adding that they were still trying to find a way to track the guilty in such cases. In the month of January 2013, 215 cases of sexual harassment were registered and Rs 34,200 was collected as fines. Five passengers were also sent to jail for sexual harassment. Similarly, in February, 314 cases were registered and Rs 41,650 was collected as fines. Three passengers were jailed.
And in an attempt to curb the menace of sexual harassment, the Railway Police Force has deployed additional personnel at railway stations and has been booking anyone found guilty under Section 145B of the Railway Act, which reads, “If any person in any railway carriage or upon any part of a railway commits any nuisance or act of indecency or uses abusive or obscene language, he can be booked under this section and he may be given punishment for imprisonment of one month and a fine of Rs 250, in the case of conviction for second or subsequent offence.” A K Jain, PRO, CR, said, “We keep carrying out campaigns for the safety of our female passengers. We will continue with such drives.”
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