VIJAYAWADA: A team of Railway Protection Force (RPF), Vijayawada division arrested eight persons for misbehaving with fellow passengers and harassing a woman on Wednesday.
According to RPF officials, a couple was travelling to Howrah from Secunderabad in general coach of Train no. 12513 Secunderabad-Guwahati Express on Sunday (September 16). The eight accused, travelling in the same coach, started teasing the woman and sexually harassed her, which led to an altercation between the two parties.
“To avoid further trouble, the couple decided to get down from the train when it slowed down at Powerpet railway station near Eluru. While deboarding the train, the woman passenger fell down and sustained head injury. She was rushed to government hospital at Eluru,” said the RPF officials.
After the issue came to their notice, railway officials rushed to the hospital and gathered information about the incident. “After taking necessary details, we alerted the RPF and General Railway Police (GRP) at Vishakhapatnam Railway station as the train’s next halt was at Visakhapatnam. Through a video call, the husband identified the eight people who harassed his wife,” RPF officials said.
Immediately all of them were detained at Visakhapatnam and later brought to Eluru. The GRP filed cases against them under sections 354 (Sexual harassment), 506 (Criminal intimidation) and 509 (Insulting modesty of a woman) after proper verification.