CHENNAI: In an incident which yet again highlights poor women safety, a 23-year-old railway employee was molested by an unidentified gang near Singaperumal Koil railway station on Tuesday night, while she was on duty.
Railway police said the incident was reported to have happened at around 9 pm, when the woman (name withheld to protect identity), working as pointswoman, was told by her superior officer to check on a technical problem on the railway track, located within a distance of just 100 metres from the station.
Railway sources said, “As part of the operations wing of the railways, pointsmen work under instructions from station master and others. The job is primarily outdoor and not suitable for ladies. More significantly, there is only one pointsman attached to every station.” Among the several responsibilities attended to by them are the job of setting right minor repairs of the tracks at branching points and the work of ensuring signals are returned to normal after passage of a train.
On Tuesday night, the woman stepped out and proceeded to the spot. After attending to it, she was returning when the gang surrounded her and attempted to molest the woman.
Railway police sources say she was pulled from behind. “The area is dense dark and there was no one in the immediate vicinity. She however managed to free herself from their grasp and reached the station,” the source added.
Once she reached the station, the woman, narrated her ordeal to the duty station master. “She said she couldn’t identify the persons as it was very dark. But she said they seemed to wear lungis. We alerted the RPF as well as GRP,” said a station official.
After they got the information, the Government Railway Police Personnel reached the station and interrogated the woman. “She orally gave a complaint, but refused to give a written one. But, we will forward a report on the incident to our superior officers,” a GRP police personnel told Express.