A young woman who said a co-passenger harassed her throughout her journey on a government bus from Bolpur to Esplanade got the accused arrested moments after getting off the vehicle in the city on Tuesday afternoon.The accused have been identified as Mohammad Kafarul, 39, a resident of Bolpur, in Birbhum district.

Police said the 22-year-old woman from Bolpur, who studies in a college in Calcutta, had boarded the South Bengal State Transport Corporation bus around 6am. She was travelling alone.

“She was standing as all the seats were occupied. After some time, one of the passengers offered his seat. When the adjoining seat became vacant, the man occupied it,” said an officer of New Market police station.

The woman said in her complaint lodged with the police station that the man had initially tried to touch her and then started disturbing her in various ways. The woman dozed off after some time. But she woke up with a start when the bus was travelling through Shaktigarh and found the man had placed his hand on her thigh.

“At this point, she became sure the man was molesting her. She raised her voice and alerted the conductor. According to her, neither the conductor nor the driver did anything to help her,” the officer said.

Apparently, no passenger on the bus came to her rescue. The woman said the accused was often pretending to doze off on her shoulder.

Around four-and-a-half hours later, when the bus reached Esplanade, the woman got off in front of Bidhan Market and spotted a police sergeant. She rushed to him and narrated her plight before accompanying the sergeant to the man, who was then alighting from the bus.

The man was taken to New Market police station, where he was arrested on charges of outrage of modesty. If convicted, he can be jailed for five years.

The police said they would talk to the bus driver and conductor to verify the allegation of inaction levelled against them by the woman.

Several officers said she could have alerted the police by calling 100 from her cellphone or raised an alarm through social media for prompt action during the journey itself.

Quick tips

What women can do if molested in a moving vehicle

⚫ Dial 100
⚫ Start making a video of the accused to scare him
⚫ Turn on Facebook Live and record the perpetrator’s activity to scare him
⚫ Call friends who can connect to the police and bring help