A 26-year-old woman who said a man had been stalking her and touching her inappropriately on Metro trains over the past two months got her alleged harasser arrested on Monday.
The woman raised the alarm when the man, later identified as Amit Das, was allegedly trying to molest her while boarding a train at Kavi Nazrul station. She boards a Metro train daily at Kavi Nazrul on her way to office and gets off at Esplanade,
Police said she told them that she had been noticing a man follow her in Metro over the past two months.
“She alleged the man would intentionally stand next to her, especially when the train is crowded, and would try to touch her inappropriately. She said she had been noticing that the man would follow her into the compartment every day. Today she caught him red-handed when he tried to molest her while she was boarding the train,” said an officer of Patuli police station.
The woman screamed when Das allegedly touched her inappropriately while she was boarding the train around 12.45pm, the police said. Instead of boarding, the woman pushed the man on the platform and got off the train herself before screaming for help.
The Metro Railway Police rushed to her help and took custody of the man. He was handed over to Patuli police station.
The woman accompanied the police to the police station and filed a complaint, based on which Das was arrested and a case under IPC sections related to stalking and outrage of modesty registered against him.
Das, a resident of Sonarpur, will be produced in court on Tuesday. If convicted, he can be jailed for five years.
Senior police officers lauded the woman for the courage she had shown in getting her alleged tormentor arrested and urged victims of similar circumstances to follow her example, instead of fearing social stigma.
“Most such cases of sexual harassment go unreported because the victims are scared of the stigma or they do not want to get involved in a legal tangle by approaching the police. It is a welcome change that women are more confident these days and are coming out to report the cases to the police,” said a senior police officer of the south suburban division.