A drunk college student hugged a young woman at Elphinstone station early on Thursday on a dare and paid dearly. He was thrashed by waiting commuters and handed over to the GRP which arrested him on charges of molestation, reports Nitasha Natu.
Deepak Singh, 21, a student of BCom in banking and insurance at a Worli college, went drinking on Wednesday night with two youths.
He knew them only by their last names¡ªMahadik and Padu¡ª as they were friends of someone he knew. Around 5.30am, they staggered into the station to buy food, and noticed the woman. According to Singh, Mahadik and Padu told him: "Tere mein himmat hai toh gale laga ke dikha (embrace her if you have the guts)".
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Shocked by Singh suddenly accosting and hugging her, the 23-year-old woman screamed for help. Other commuters rushed to her rescue and pinned Singh down. He was given a sound thrashing before patrolling policemen took him into custody. "The woman is a Prabhadevi resident.
She works in a private firm in Kandivli and was headed to work. As she leaves home when it's still dark, her father drops to the station every day, but doesn't accompany her to the ladies coach. He had dropped her to the station on Thursday as well," said a police official.
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Singh, who lives in Worli koliwada with his parents, told the police that it was a dare and they did not mean any harm. If found guilty, he faces a prison term up to two years under the IPC.
Molestation cases on Mumbai railways increased by 29% last year as compared to 2016. Ninety-seven cases of molestation were recorded on the city railways last year and 121 on the entire state's railways. There were more cases of rape and molestation recorded under the Mumbai GRP commissionerate than the Pune and Nagpur commissionerates put together.