Harassed over fare, girl drags MTC crew to police station
CHENNAI: After being subjected to harassment and verbal abuse from an MTC bus conductor for having Rs 10 less for buying tickets for two, a young woman halted the bus on the busy TTK road and took the driver and conductor to the Mylapore police station. As video footage of the incident went viral, netizens applauded the woman for standing up against bullying by bus crew.
Rithvika (name changed) of Nochikuppam and her male friend boarded an MTC bus (route No: 27D) at Foreshore Estate on Saturday evening. While they had to pay Rs 30 for the tickets to reach their destination, they realised that they only had Rs 20 in cash with them.
When Rithvika informed the bus conductor that they were falling short of the fare and asked him to stop the bus, the conductor allegedly refused and turned abusive calling her a beggar and questioning her moral conduct.
Even when another passengers offered to pay the remaining fare, the conductor reportedly refused to accept it. Irked by his harsh words, Rithvika got into an argument.
While she stayed in the bus, her male friend got down at the next stop, withdrew money at a nearby ATM and chased the bus in an auto rickshaw. Managing to board the same bus a few stops away, he flashed a Rs 500 note for the tickets. However, the conductor did not take the money claiming that he did not have change, which led to another round of argument between them. When Rithvika’s demand for an apology was rejected, she forced the driver to stop the bus on TTK Road and got other passengers to get down. The woman later took the bus crew to the Mylapore police station where the two parties agreed to a compromise.
The video of the woman arguing with the MTC crew went viral with social media users lauding Rithvika for standing up against misogyny and moral policing. MTC officials were unavailable to comment.