'Druggie' does a Tyson, bites woman on train

Accused wasu00a0 seated in ladies compartment

Crime against women commuters on local trains has reared its ugly head once again. A 23-year-old woman was bitten on her cheek by an allegedly intoxicated man yesterday in the second-class ladies compartment of a Kalyan-bound local.u00a0u00a0



Priya Pawar (name changed) was travelling in the 8.09 am Dadar-Kalyan local when the man identified as Bharath Jagam Maala lunged into her, grabbed her hair and bit her.

Maala was already present in the compartment, when Priya boarded the train at 8.30 am from Bhandup.

According to the police, Maala was under the influence of drugs, but this can be confirmed only when the results of medical tests from Bhabha Hospital are out today.u00a0u00a0
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Mahesh Kheroria (32), an eyewitness, said, "We heard commotion in the ladies compartment and immediately pulled the chain at Nahur station, but it halted at Mulund."

Kept on biting

Kheroria and other commuters travelling in the general compartment hopped on to the adjoining ladies bogie at Mulund. They tried to separate Maala from Priya, but he kept on biting the victim's cheek even as commuters rained blows on him. After a lot of struggle, the commuters managed to separate the two. Priya was then rushed to Sawarkar Municipal Hospital in Mulund and a case was registered with the Kurla railway police.

"The accused seems to be under the influence of some kind of a drug. He does not have a proper place to stay in Mumbai and claims to be from Nepal," said Inspector Sambhaji Korde, Kurla railway police station.

According to the police, he later retracted his statement and said he worked as a security guard in a mango field in Ahmedabad. During the interrogation, Maala maintained that he was innocent. "I never bit her, I only slapped her," he said. The accused has been booked under Sections 324, 354 and 427 for causing injury, molestation and robbery for trying to snatch Priya's earring.

Open to attack?
This incident has raised concerns about safety of women commuters on trains. However, the railway police said they have beefed up security. Khorde said, "We have taken enough security measures and have also deployed constables at various locations. Such incidents are very rare."

However Kheroria, an eyewitness to the incident, said, "Why were we asked to register the case at Kurla when we got off at Mulund? There was nobody to register our complaint or pay attention to this man even though he boarded the ladies compartment at Kurla. This is a security lapse," said Kheroria.