Mumbai: A 19-year-old woman was groped by a 35-year-old man in broad daylight on Thursday, while she was waiting to board the local train at the Khar railway station. The man also forcefully tried kissing her on the lips, according to Government Railway Police (GRP).
The officers said the incident occurred on platform number 4 and the man, identified as Alok Ganpat Kanojia, has been arrested.
The police said that the teenager, a resident of Andheri, was travelling to Bandra for some personal work. She boarded the Churchgate slow local from Andheri and got off at Khar to meet a friend. After spending some time with her, she went to platform number 4 to catch a train to Bandra.
While waiting for the local, she was shocked to realise someone groped her from behind, so forcefully, that she could not even turn around. The man held her neck from behind and was pulling her towards him. The woman screamed for help, meanwhile, the man turned around and tried to kiss her on the lips.
“Although the woman was in shock, she pushed her molester with force and screamed to alert the patrolling officers and passengers on the platform,” said P Kumbhar, senior police officer of Bandra GRP.
A patrolling police team reached the spot and arrested the accused. Kumbhar said that he was arrested under section 354 of the India Penal Code (IPC) after recording the statement of the victim.
GRP officers said that Kanojia is a resident of Jabalpur and had left his house two days ago. He had boarded a train from Jabalpur and reached Bandra Terminus, from where he came to Khar station. “We have informed his family in Jabalpur, who told us that he is a habitual runaway and often boards random long-distance trains.”