Auto driver held for harassing woman at Metro station

NEWDELHI: Delhi Police on Friday arrested an auto-rickshaw driver after a city architect alleged the man passed lewd comments on her when she was waiting to take a rickshaw till Paharganj from New Delhi Metro station. The woman,who took to Twitter to explain her ordeal, also accused police of inaction. Two police officers have been suspended in con- nection with the case.

Police said the accused was identified as Khurshid. Deputy commissioner of police (Railways), Parvez Ahmed, said the accused was identified after the complaint and a team arrested him. “A case of sexual harassment has been registered. The matter is being probed,” the DCP said. Police said following complaint of inaction, an investigating officer and a duty officer of the railway police were also sus- pended. The woman said in her complaint that around 6.30pm, a drunk rickshaw puller tried to force her to go with him. “I refused and kept walking until he came rushing and grabbed my hand and said ‘****ab to tu mere hi sath chalegi (now you will go with me only),” the woman wrote on Twitter.

She further said, “I turned around and smashed the water bottle I was holding right at his face. I was shivering but some- thing inside me gave me the strength. I slapped him hard and dragged him to the police post right in front of the gate number one of New Delhi Metro station.” She said there was not a single cop present inside and with help of the crowd she called the helpline numbers. “I narrated the whole incident to the person on call and he said ‘madam bas 5 minute mein police bhejta hu’ (I am sending help in five minutes),” she said.

She said that after waiting for 45 minutes she lost her patience and beat up the man with a stick. “I kept hitting until he started to beg and his arms started to bleed. I did not want to stop but the human inside me could not hit more,” she said. Taking on the Delhi Police, the woman said such delayed response leads to women feeling unsafe in the city.

The woman, however, could not be contacted despite repeated attempts.