With so many chain snatching incidents taking place regularly, the security of the women passengers commuting through the local trains has become a cause of concern. The modus operandi is that these chain snatchers follow the path of women passengers on regular basis and noting down various factors relating to their movements and attack one of them at an appropriate moment. Few days back a woman was pushed to death under a moving train by a chain snatcher in Kurla Station after she showed some resistance to prevent the attack. Kurla is a busy station and during the peak hours, there was no help from the co passengers to save a human life from the gruesome attack. The CCTV camera was functional and the culprit was arrested on the spot to confirm his role in this offence. The safety of women passengers in the Metro city is increasingly becoming risky day by day and it is time to prune up security at all stations.
Moving train has become a convenient target for miscreants to show their stunt against the weaker sex. Both the State and the society are equally responsible for safeguarding the interest of women travelling through public transport system especially in local trains. The manner in which a foreigner was slashed, robbed in first class ladies coach three years back highlight how unsafe women are on the suburban railway network. The state government must provide police protection for women in local trains as the number of such happenings is on the rise in recent times. Security must be beefed up in all compartments of special ladies trains. Stealing of mobile phones, handbags, jewellery stealing are a part and parcel of train journey in the city and the Railway department is having the sole responsibility to deploy RPF and GRP to stop such crimes from occurring. Miscreants’ indulging in cowardly act by threatening women during odd hours in a train is an ordeal for those women going out for work and returning during odd hours or attending their duty during late hours. Women are feeling insecure while commuting in suburban trains. The police force outside the station area and the Railway reserve police inside stations should keep a vigil on miscreants and follow their movement on a regular basis and apprehend them to create fear among the chain snatchers. Security must be beefed up at all corners in the metro city and other big towns to minimise such happenings. It is our endeavour and duty to provide safe and free travel for women in trains without eve-teasing and other ways of harassment.
Jayanthi Subramaniam
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
