In a shocking incident, a 25-year-old woman jumped off a moving train at Singarayakonda in Prakasam district of Andhra Pradesh on Thursday in order to escape a molestation attempt.
The software engineer, who hails from Vijayawada and works in Chennai, was travelling on the train with two other women. They were travelling to Vijayawada on the Nizamuddin Millennium Express.
During their journey, three men on the train made lewd comments at them and tried to molest them. Shocked at their advances, the victim jumped off the moving train, sustaining several injuries.
The woman is currently undergoing treatment in a hospital.
The three men have been arrested.
TV9 reported that the women did not have reserved tickets. They were standing in the coach when the men started harassing the women.
As soon as the woman jumped, eye-witnesses pulled the chain and stopped the train. The woman has been admitted to a government hospital in Ongole.
According to reports, railway police officials were not present in the coach at the time of the incident, but rushed to the spot as soon as they as they were informed.
Government Railway Police Sub-Inspector T Ramanaiah told media persons, "The woman jumped as the train was approaching a station. All three women are BTech graduates, who work in Chennai. The woman jumped because she panicked when the accused started harassing them."
"We have recorded her statement. She suffered an injury on her head, but she is safe. We have informed her parents as well,” he said.
"We have registered a case under Indian Penal Code sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 506 (criminal intimidation), 509 (insulting the modesty of a woman) and 290 read with section 30 (creating public nuisance)," Deputy superintendent of railway police M Satti Babu told Hindustan Times.
This is not the first time that a young woman has fallen off a train while dealing with molesters.
On February 1, 2011, Soumya, a resident of Shoranur in Palakkad district was found on the railway track near Vallathol station, after she was pushed off by her rapist, Govindachamy. She died five days later on February 6 after battling for life in hospital.
In July 2012, a 19-year-old girl was pushed off the Yeshwantpur-Mysore Express train near Maddur, about 63 km from Mysore, by four men who tried to molest her. The garment factory workers fell 25 feet on a dry river bed, and was badly injured.