Mumbai: A 31-year-old woman, who claims to be a model and reporter, has alleged that she was raped onboard Tulsi Express, while travelling from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) to Gwalior. According to her, some of her co-travellers offered her spiked food, which rendered her unconscious, raped her and even shot her obscene visuals.
The 'incident' occurred on March 10, but she lodged a complaint with the Gwalior railway police after more than a month. After 21 days, the case was transferred to Thane railway police as the alleged offence took place in their jurisdiction. According to cops, the woman is not cooperating with the investigation.
In her complaint, she said that she frequently visits Mumbai for work. On March 10, she boarded Tulsi Express' three-tier AC B-2 coach from the LTT and the train departed at 6.18am. Around 40 minutes later, unidentified individuals allegedly offered her spiked food, raped her.
On April 19, the woman filed a written complaint at the Gwalior railway police station. A case was registered under the Indian Penal Code sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc., with intent to commit an offence) and 376 (rape).
According to Thane railway police, the case was transferred to them almost 60 days after the 'incident'. The LTT's CCTV footage of the day is not available, said the cops, adding that they have checked the reservation list of Tulsi Express and other trains that started from LTT around that time.
They came to know that the complainant was travelling without a ticket. The police also inquired with ticket checkers, who were deployed on Tulsi Express, Gorakhpur Express and Kushinagar Express on the day of the incident. However, they said that they did not notice or hear about the rape. Further investigation is being done with the help of call records and technical assistance.
A railway cop said that when the Gwalior police asked the complainant to undergo a medical examination, she refused and did not provide her statement. Now, the Thane police are attempting to take her statement.
