Chennai: In a significant move to enhance the safety of women passengers, the Tamil Nadu Railway Protection Force (RPF) has launched a new initiative — a WhatsApp group titled ‘Rail Women Passenger Safety.’
The group, inaugurated by Railway DGP Vanniyaperumal, is designed to bring together women who frequently travel by train, including vegetable vendors, students, working professionals, and women police officers.
The objective of this group is to facilitate the rapid sharing of information about suspicious individuals and potential threats during train journeys.
With women passengers often possessing deep familiarity with their co-passengers due to years of travel, police believe this grassroots Intelligence can play a critical role in preventing crimes.
According to a report by Daily Thanthi, the initiative has been well-received by the public.
Already, similar groups are being established across railway police stations in Tamil Nadu.
In Chennai alone, the WhatsApp group has been formed at 23 railway stations, with authorities encouraging women to report any suspicious activity or individuals.
This development comes in the wake of recent disturbing incidents involving women on trains in the state.
In the early hours of Monday, a 26-year-old woman was allegedly sexually harassed by a co-passenger aboard an unreserved coach from Thoothukudi to Erode.
The accused, identified as Satish Kumar from Coimbatore, was reportedly intoxicated and misbehaved with the woman near Kodai Road Railway Station.
The woman sought help from fellow passengers and alerted authorities through the railway helpline number 139. Railway police intercepted the train at Dindigul Railway Station and arrested the accused. Investigations are ongoing.
Just three days earlier, a four-month pregnant woman suffered a miscarriage after being allegedly assaulted and pushed from a moving train near Jolarpet.
The victim, employed at an apparel company in Coimbatore, was travelling to Chittoor alone in a ladies’ coach. The accused boarded the compartment at Jolarpettai after other women had disembarked and allegedly attempted to sexually assault her. When she resisted, he reportedly pushed her out of the moving train.
The suspect, 30-year-old K. Heamaraj from KV Kuppam, Vellore, was later arrested. An FIR has been registered against Heamaraj under Sections 115(2), 64 read with 62, 74, and 109(1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and Section 4 of the Tamil Nadu Prohibition of Harassment of Women (TNPHW) Act, 2002. Further investigation is in progress.
With rising concerns over women’s safety on trains, the WhatsApp safety group initiative by the Tamil Nadu RPF is being seen as a timely and proactive step.
(IANS)
