WB: French woman molested on train, railway employee held

The Burdawan police in West Bengal on Tuesday has filed a case and arrested a railway employee for molestation. The accused has been sent to police custody till June 14.

Based on a complaint by a French national, who was touring India with a friend, was molested on a train on Sunday night while traveling from Jamalpur in Bihar to Howrah.

The 29-year-old woman from Pouancé in western France and her male friend had boarded a non-AC sleeper coach of the Jamalpur-Howrah Express at 7.30pm on Sunday on an unreserved general ticket.

The incident happened at around 11:30 pm while the train was Pakur station near Bengal-Jharkhand border. The accused, identified as 31-year-old Md Arshad Hussain, saw the French woman and offered her his seat. Soon, she felt she was being groped and woke up with a start to see Hussain standing near her. She warned him to stay away and tried to sleep off. Undeterred by her warning, the man groped her once again, this time she slapped him.

The woman immediately raised an alarm, following which other passengers and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) personnel, who were on board, caught hold of the accused.

The RPF personnel handed over the accused to the GRP at Burdwan railway station in West Bengal. The woman, who was on her way to Howrah station, also got down at Burdwan and lodged a complaint against the accused with the GRP.