BENGALURU: A college student was allegedly sexually harassed by a group of men who followed her from the M G Road Metro station till the Vijaynagar station and beyond. The incident occurred on Tuesday night and the victim has alleged that she did not receive any help from the security personnel deployed at the station.
Police said the victim has not filed a complaint, but the Vijaynagar police recorded statements of three Namma Metro security personnel and a woman Home Guard who were on duty at the station, on Friday.
Speaking to Express, Vijaynagar police inspector Nagesh G N said the Metro staff had not come forward to file a complaint. “I came to know about the incident after the news appeared on television. I immediately called the security personnel deployed that night and asked them to file a statement as well as all details of the incident including CCTV footage to enable us to take action. If needed, we will file a suo motu case and proceed further,” he said.
Among those who recorded their statements, Chennaiah, a security guard and the woman Home Guard were eyewitnesses, police said. “The security personnel should have ideally blocked the path of the gang when they tried to exit the station, but they did not,” Nagesh said.
Another senior police officer said Metro officials should have informed the police about the incident. “The victim did not report the case to the police or call a Hoysala squad for help. The Metro security staff, who should have informed us about the incident, did not do so. It is their duty to ensure safety of passengers.”
Incidents of women facing harassment on Metro trains have been rising over the past few months. However, not many complaints have been filed as many a times, the victims refuse to come forward. BMRCL Managing Director Pradeep Singh Kharola said, “We have informed the police about the incident. We are also going through the camera recordings.” Metro sources said the woman had used the interchange at Kempegowda Metro Station to travel to Vijaynagar. A senior official claimed that the security staff had escorted her to the police station to help her out, but she refused to file a complaint. “Since she told our security staff only after the gang had left, we could not get hold of them,” he added.