According to Senior Police Inspector Milind Patil of Manpada police station, the MSRTC bus was on its way to Dombivili railway station when the accused, identified as Arvind Singh, a resident of Kalamboli in Navi Mumbai, ran with the moving bus and tried to board it near Dombivili Sahakari Bank from the front exit.
Initially, none of the other passengers helped the conductor. They allegedly just stood and watched while the accused beat up and tore the woman’s clothes. Later, a group of students who were onboard the bus, intervened and stopped the accused.
“I asked him to get off the bus and he pulled me by my feet and dragged me off the bus and made me lie down on the road. He then ripped my clothes and began kicking me. There was another bus behind us, and the conductor of that bus tried to save me; he then beat her up too. This incident occurred at the bus stop, when the bus was stationary and passengers were boarding the bus, but none of them came to my rescue.”
Singh, who was on his way to Panvel in the neighbouring Raigad district, had allegedly boarded the bus from the wrong door, which the driver had objected to. Singh started abusing the driver, at which point the woman conductor asked him “Why are you abusing someone who is your father’s age?”
The accused then allegedly started attacking the woman conductor. Another woman conductor climbed the bus on hearing the commotion, but the accused allegedly hit her too.
The driver and the conductor objected to the passenger boarding the bus from the front door and instead asked him to take the rear entrance.
Annoyed, Singh allegedly began abusing both of them after entering the bus. When the woman asked Singh to stop misbehaving, he allegedly pushed her and tore her clothes during the scuffle.
At this, angry fellow passengers roughed up the accused and subsequently handed him over to Manpada police.
He was arrested and charged under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) and 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of the IPC, police said.
