BHOPAL: A deputy inspector general (DIG) of Railway Protection Force (RPF) was booked for alleged sexual harassment of a railway official’s wife on board the Indore-Jabalpur Overnight Express train in Madhya Pradesh during the wee hours on Monday.
The senior RPF officer identified as Vijay Khatarkar was travelling in the AC-II class coach of the overnight train to Jabalpur. The railway official’s wife too was travelling to Jabalpur with her six-year-old daughter on the adjoining berth.
Both, the DIG-RPF and the woman’s husband are posted in Jabalpur only.
The alleged incident happened at around 4 am between Narsinghpur and Jabalpur. The railway official’s wife started crying for help alleging misconduct by the co-passenger. Hearing her cry for help, other co-passengers rushed to the woman’s seat, after which the on-duty travel ticket examiner (TTE) was informed about the development.
When the train reached Jabalpur in the morning, the Government Railway Police (GRP) lodged a complaint against the senior RPF officer under Section 354A of IPC. The investigations in the case will be done by a female sub-inspector under the supervision of ASP-GRP. “The woman’s statements will also be recorded before the magistrate possibly on Tuesday. No arrest has been made in the case as investigations are underway,” SP-GRP Jabalpur SK Jain told The New Indian Express.
Meanwhile, the DIG-RPF Vijay Khatarkar flatly denied the female co-passenger’s allegations, saying he was only picking up the water bottle, but accidentally touched her hand. The senior RPF officer also told journalists that he even apologized to the woman, but she refused to listen to him.