A pregnant commuter was shoved and abused by a fellow commuter in a first-class ladies coach of a local train while going from Mira Road to Churchgate on Monday. The victim had boarded a 9.36am fast local from Mira Road, which was jam-packed. In the course of the scuffle, the victim’s clothes got torn and her gold chain snapped. The accused woman was detained by the railway police and has been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt).
According to the Government Railway Police (GRP) report, the victim had boarded the first-class ladies coach and in the midst of journey, due to crowding, she was elbowed twice by an unknown woman standing beside her. As the compartment got further crowded in the course of the journey, the victim tried to move further inside the coach and while doing so, her bag hit the accused. Annoyed that the victim had ‘hit’ her, she grabbed the back of the victim’s apparel and began pushing and shoving her. In the process, the police report said, the victim’s dress was torn from the rear and the gold chain she was wearing around her neck also snapped, while the accused continued to verbally abuse her.
Other commuters in the compartment tried to intervene but it was the victim herself who dialled the railway helpline number 1512 and sought police help. As soon as the train reached Andheri station, the accused was taken into police custody and brought to the police station, added the report.
The accused has been booked under section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), section 427 (mischief causing damage to the amount of fifty rupees), section 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) and section 294 (obscene acts and songs) of the Indian Penal Code.
Pandemic restrictions in the city and state have been lifted and ever since, the ‘super-dense crush loads’ are back on local trains during rush hours – when 14-16 standees are crammed in one square metre of floor space in virtually every train compartment. During peak hours, a 12-car train is bursting at the seams, carrying more than 5,000 passengers as against the recommended capacity of 1,700 people, or four passengers per square metre.
