Woman 'groped' on Bengaluru train fights it out

A 28-year-old woman travelling on a Bengaluru-bound train was allegedly groped in her sleep by a fellow passenger earlier this week.

But instead of letting go of the matter, she followed the suspect as he straddled different compartments of the train and finally confronted him. A friend pulled the chain, stopping the train midway and prompting the railway police to catch the suspect.

The incident occurred aboard the Kochuveli-Mysuru Express in the early hours of November 6. The woman, a marketing executive in Bengaluru, had boarded the train at Ernakulam along with her friends the previous night. They travelled in the coach S8.

Around 4.45 am, as the train approached the Tirupattur railway station in northern Tamil Nadu, the woman woke up to the sensation of a stranger groping her back.

She quickly got up and raised an alarm, forcing the suspect to dash to the next compartment. She didn’t sit quiet and started following him, raising alarms at the same time. She caught hold of him in the next compartment. The suspect claimed innocence but the woman was too gritty to let him go. She tried seeking help but there wasn’t any. She walked back to her compartment and informed her friends and fellow passengers. The suspect sneaked into another compartment in the meanwhile.

Her friends joined her and started searching for the suspect. As they confronted him, the train pulled into the Tirupattur railway station. They looked around for the ticket examiner or the police but could not find anyone. A friend then pulled the chain to draw the police’s attention.

Officers from the Jolarpettai railway police station rushed to the train, and after making inquiries, detained the suspect. The woman was asked to report the matter, but as there was no time, she continued her journey.

She later lodged a complaint with the Bengaluru Cantonment railway police. The suspect has been identified as V Sunish.