On Tuesday, a 41-year-old woman, who had undergone leg surgery, was allegedly forced to get off the bus by the BEST bus driver and conductor for taking too much time to board.
According to Hindustan Times, the BEST bus driver and conductor stopped the vehicle and allowed other travellers to board the bus following them, they didn’t let the woman got onto that vehicle too, getting even those staffers to stop and a commuter to allegedly push her off it and molest her. The duo and the commuter also allegedly didn’t let her get into an auto. The woman had to spend the night at the police station to register an FIR against them and the commuter.
The incident took place, when the complainant (the woman), marketing head of a private firm, boarded a BEST bus for route number 210 from the front door near Citi Mall. The cops have said that the BEST bus driver was angry as she was taking time to board the bus, after which the woman shouted. The BEST driver didn't wait and started the bus. The woman told the leading daily, “He suddenly started the bus. A commuter caught me or I would have fallen. I told the driver about my surgery, but he yelled at me.”
After this, the woman and the driver got into an argument. Later, the bus conductor Anand Chavan, too allegedly commented on her. Later, when the spat escalated, the woman threatened to call the police. The woman told the leading daily that the bus driver stopped the bus around 1 km away, at Anand Nagar on Link Road, and asked all passengers to get off, refusing to go ahead. After she boarded the other bus, Naik and Chavan allegedly asked the driver not to start till she got down.
That is when a passenger from the bus named Sartaj Akhtar, 41, a tailor, allegedly asked her to get off, claiming he was getting late for home, the woman said. The woman alleged he started pushing her off the bus, and was joined by Naik and Chavan.
Later, when the woman tried to hail an auto, Naik, Chavan and Akhtar stopped her from even doing that, after which the woman called the police control room. Cops arrived and took them all to the Oshiwara police station. The Oshiwara police have booked Naik, Chavan and Akhtar under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (molestation), 504 (intentional insult) and 34 (act done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
