Ahmedabad
(Gujarat), August 18: A case showing how distressingly awful is the state of security
in railway trains especially in relation to crime against women has come to
fore. A distressed minor traveled from Patna to Delhi to Jaipur seeking her
way home and then got sexually assaulted by a railway attendant on a moving
train en-route to Gujarat’s Ahmedabad.
On August 4 at around
9:40 am, a distressed and disheveled minor was spotted on a platform of
Ahmedabad Railway Station. When a dutiful female Railway Protection Force (RPF)
staff queried the reason for her predicament, the survivor narrated the horrifying incident that occurred with her on the train.
The complainant
said that an attendant whom she met at Jaipur railway station took her into
confidence, with an assurance that he will help her safely board a train to
Bihar, the victim’s home. He helped the girl board the Ahmedabad bound Swarnim
Jayanti Rajdhani Express around 12 a.m. Soon after boarding the train, Sunil
Kumar, the attendant took her into the enclosure which on normal days was used
to store bed sheets, pillows, napkins, and other utilities for passengers.
However, due to
covid regulations, the enclosure was empty and Sunil took advantage of the
situation. Hereafter gaging her so that she couldn’t make any noise, he forced
himself on her, and then raped her.
The Government
Railway Police (GRP) at Ahmedabad station registered an FIR based on the minor’s
statement. Inquiries with ticket checkers and other railway staff members, helped
the investigators identify the accused. Even before they could catch him, he had
already left the station and boarded the Delhi-bound Rajdhani Express 02957. Post
which Ahmedabad GRP informed their counterparts in Jaipur about him and he was
arrested at the Jaipur Railway station at 2:50 am on the intervening night of
4-5 August.
Medical tests
were then conducted in Ahmedabad, and later the minor was taken to Jaipur for
recording the final statement.
The accused,
Sunil Kumar, was booked under sections 3A and 4 of the POCSO Act (Protection of
Children from Sexual offences) and under IPC sections 365 and 376 for illegal
confinement and rape respectively.
Recent
developments in the case show that the girl might not be a minor and the medical
reports also seem to show that the girl was five months pregnant. The survivor’s
parents have been informed and the girl will be handed over to them – before further
action on the FIR is initiated.