Man drinks another’s water on train, whipped

BHOPAL: A 23-year-old man on his way to Mumbai for an examination was allegedly thrashed for hours on board a train and whipped with leather belts by three passengers because he ‘stole’ drinking water from their bottle, police said on Tuesday.

The three passengers — all aged between 20 and 25 — accused Jabalpur resident Sumit Kachi of drinking water from their bottle around 11.30pm on March 24 on board the Patliputra-Lokmanya Tilak Terminus express.

For the next three hours, they allegedly thrashed Kachi in full public view without objection from passengers, commercial or security staff in the S-2 compartment, sources said. The train reportedly crossed 24 stations between Jabalpur and Itarsi, but the matter remained unreported, they added.

The three men pulled out Kachi at Itarsi at 3.30am, tied his legs to a railway coach window and allegedly whipped him with leather belts for around 10 minutes.

Authorities intervened after some vendors informed the Itarsi government railway police and arrested the trio — identified as Vicky, Balram and Ravi Kumar, all residents of Patna on their way to Mumbai for an examination. A video shot by the vendors went viral on social media.

“The three accused were booked under Sections 323, 294, 506 and 34 of IPC for voluntarily causing hurt, obscenity, criminal intimidation and crime with common intent. They were later produced before a local court, which granted them bail,” additional DG (Railways) of Madhya Pradesh police, Anuradha Shankar, said.

Kachi was admitted to an Itarsi hospital and discharged after primary treatment.