On The Tracks Of Bogeymen

Promila Dutta and her college friends will never forget their journey to Calcutta by Rajdhani Express last October. Goons owing allegiance to Samajwadi Party MP Pappu Yadav harassed and threatened them with weapons in their AC compartment. Barging in through the vestibule, they demanded the girls serve up some "nach gana (song and dance) and entertainment". They even wanted the girls to flip through porn mags they were brandishing. The ordeal continued till the train reached Patna.

Newly-wed Rashmi Priya was molested by a group of students who boarded the Patna-bound Magadh Express from Arah last April. Not satisfied with abusing her, the students took turns to physically harass her. When the couple alighted in Patna and complained to the station government railway police or the grp, a cop quipped: "Aisi chhoti-moti ghatnayein to train mein hoti hi hain"(Such petty things keep happening on trains).

On her journey to New Delhi from Chennai on Tamil Nadu Express last October, a fiftysomething Delhi-based businessman-passenger repeatedly pawed nri Janaki Ramanathan in the AC sleeper berth during the night. Her US-based software engineer-husband, Venkat, complained to the coach attendant, who shifted the businessman to a different berth. Late at night, Venkat, seething in rage, went up to the passenger and hit him so hard in the head with his wife's stilettoes that he began to bleed and had to be treated by a doctor in the compartment.

THE world's largest railway system boasts of "bringing people together". But for travelling women, this credo is fast becoming a harrowing one. In a country where over 12 million people travel everyday by trains over more than 62,000 track kms covering 6,848 stations, only a fourth of India's 8,000 passenger trains have any kind of security. Women are routinely attacked, molested and sexually harassed on running trains and railway property: 53 rape cases were reported between January 1999 and June 2000 alone. Of these, seven were reported from moving trains and 46 from platforms, waiting rooms and such like.

Policemen admit the number of molestations and sexual harassment is much higher; only they form the chunk of "other offences" in records: a whopping 2,872 such cases were recorded between January and June 2000. "The figures are just the tip of the iceberg," confesses H.R. Rao, director-general, Railway Protection Force (rpf). "Even the grp records only 25 per cent of the cases that we forward. Frankly, security of passengers is nobody's baby or business."

Aditi Sen will never forget her return trip to Calcutta from Patna last summer on the Danapur Express. A group of passengers continued to make disparaging remarks about her, calling her 'Chachi 420'. When her twentysomething son protested, they hung him from the ceiling fan to teach him a lesson. "She literally fell on her knees and pleaded amidst a packed compartment before they actually let her son go," says a relative, refusing to be named.

Quite frighteningly, it's often the upholders of security—like armymen—who're responsible for attacking travelling women. Eight years ago, six tribal women from Ranchi on their way to Delhi were overpowered, assaulted and raped by eight army jawans on the Muri Express. Says Manjima Battachariya, 24, who was molested by jawans at the New Delhi railway station in January 1998: "The army is always hellbent on protecting its boys. I don't think my case would have proceeded had it been an army major and not jawans." But even after three years, the jawans haven't been court-martialled. Instead, Manjima had to confront a deluge of ludicrous queries from the army authorities questioning her morals.

Exacerbating the situation are male passengers who drink with impunity on trains after bribing the coach attendants. In most cases, fellow passengers keep mum, fearing reprisals from the often armed offenders. As Rao says, "Sexual harassment cases in trains are not freak incidents. And who says crowds thwart such efforts? If that was so, then why are women regularly harassed in public buses in Delhi?"

On the face of it, there are two agencies to look after the security of passengers and property. The rpf (including a specialised armed wing, rpsf), under the administrative control of the ministry, is deployed mainly to safeguard rail property. But it's also used for other purposes. As during 1998-99 when 19,268 of its personnel were "deployed" for such duties as sports meets and escorting vips. The grp, under the control of the states, is primarily responsible for passenger security. But most often they're understaffed, as in UP, which now has 5,500 grp personnel on its rolls but where R.M. Shukla, adg, Railway at Lucknow is seeking an additional fleet of 3,000. In Bihar, IG Railways V. Narayanan has initiated patrolling for night trains. But, asks he, "What about day trains? Do we have enough people for that?"

The Comptroller and Auditor General of India's report for 2000 on security management in railways has highlighted other glaring loopholes. A procedure to have firs registered and followed up with the grp through both the railway staff and the rpf was established in 1997. Checks, however, revealed that in over 75 per cent of the cases, even fir forms were not available with the staff.

Fewer cases are actually reported as women don't want to make such matters public when their 'reputation' is at stake, says Anuradha Kapoor of Swayam, a Calcutta-based women's organisation. "Like all sexual crimes, women are always held responsible for the incident," says Kapoor. The girls remain silent victims, apprehensive of drawing attention to themselves. And since law and order is a state subject, a complainant has to file a case with the local grp in the state where the incident's actually taken place. The authorities at the point of origin or termination are usually of little help. That means travelling to the state headquarters to fulfil the officialese. Most prefer to bypass the hassle.

Worse, the police remain largely insensitive to such crimes and trivialise cases of eve-teasing and harassment of travelling women. "Usually their first response is, 'they were just playing, so ignore it'," says a spokesperson of Jagori, a Delhi-based women's organisation.

Piecemeal efforts are on to improve matters. Women constables are being hired in the states and railway staff sensitisation programmes have begun at the Customer Care Training Institute in New Delhi, according to K. Balakesri, member Railway Board. In Mumbai, according to Rakesh Maria, commissioner of police, railways, a two-month old volunteer (policing) programme has successfully engaged several passenger associations. ngos too have stepped in with sporadic yet aggressive campaigns. Hope the terror will be stopped in its tracks before it wreaks further havoc on hapless women passengers.

(Some names have been changed to protect identities.)

Arijit Barman with Amarnath Tewary in Patna and Payal Kapadia in Mumbai

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On The Tracks Of Bogeymen

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