Pervert had been harassing 17-year-olds and passing lewd comments

Two girls who were being regularly harassed by a pervert got him arrested at Matunga station yesterday.

Shadab Shaikh (17) and Salma Shaikh (17), both residents of Kurla, take the 11 am CST-bound train for Matunga, where their college is situated, every day.

But for the last four days, Dilip Verma (22) had been following them and passing lewd comments.

The girls kept quiet in the beginning, but they had enough yesterday. When Verma started following them again, they approached on duty railway police Constable, Ramesh Kale, and complained.

"Around 11.20 am, I heard some people shouting. Suddenly, two girls approached me and I caught the accused before he could escape," said Kale.



What he did

According to GRP Senior Inspector Dilip Gore of the Kurla railway police station, Verma works with a private firm in Masjid Bunder.

In their complaint, the girls said stated that Verma would start with saying 'Hi, how are you?' before making lewd remarks. He would even follow the girls to Matunga.

Rs 1,200 fine

Interestingly, Verma was carrying Rs 1 lakh in cash when he was detained. It was later confirmed that the mon-ey belonged to his employers.

Verma was reprimanded and released with a warning after being charged for indecent behaviour in a public place. He was fined Rs 1,200.

Tackling Bullies

In August, Central Railway decided to fine and even imprison passengers who bully commuters and do not allow them to board trains or forcefully occupy seats in compartments.

The first case was registered on August 13 and the four bullies were fine Rs 2,500 each.

On October 14, Subhash Salgude, a contractor, passed a lewd comment about student Arti Kale (name changed) at Ghatkopar station and when she protested, he slapped her.

A passer-by who tried to rein in Salgude was also beaten up.