WHEN a would-be rapist attacked uni student Pradnya Mandhare at a crowded Mumbai train station at two-thirty in the afternoon, nobody came to her aid.

Instead, her fellow commuters (up to 50 of them, both men and women) “merely stood by and gawked” as her drunken, drug-affected assailant grabbed at her body. To be fair to the bystanders, this was India and a common enough sight. Nobody was seriously expected to do anything but watch — let alone intervene.

“When I tried to avoid him, he grabbed me,” the 20-year-old told website Mid-Way. “I was shocked for a couple of seconds, but then I started hitting him with my bag.

“Kandivli station is always crowded and so many men and women saw him try to attack me, but no one came forward to help. People stopped to stare, but no one bothered to even ask what was going on.”

What Ms Mandhare, a third year bachelor of mass media student at the city’s Sathaye College, did next made headlines across the country and earned her the title of national heroine.

“He was trying to hit me, but I could overpower him because he was stinking of alcohol and I could make out that he was drunk,” she said.

“Since the man was filthy, I found it difficult to even touch him. I caught him by his hair and dragged him to the Government Railway Police. Dragging him by the hair and walking was tough because he was trying to escape and I was afraid he would attack me.

“He kept telling me not to drag him along and that he would come with me on his own, but I did not let go. I finally managed to hand him over to the police.”

In a country where women and girls are routinely sexually assaulted and/or murdered, usually for some perceived slight against a man, victims report such incidents to police almost as rarely as they haul their attacker/s to the nearest cop shop.

“Most women are scared of approaching the police as filing a complaint is a lengthy process,” Ms Mandhare said.

“It involves giving a lot of statements and, sometimes, dealing with uncooperative officers. But, I was firm on taking that man to the police. I am grateful that the police also helped me and arrested the accused. I also asked the police officers to teach the accused a lesson so that he would not dare to molest a woman ever again.”

A Borivli police spokesman said in a statement: “We have arrested the accused, Chavan (25), who is a drug addict and was also drunk when the incident took place. We conducted a medical test of the accused and he will be produced (to) court. We are verifying whether he has a previous criminal record.”

Ms Mandhare hoped she would inspire other women to take action rather than bowing to societal or cultural pressures.

“Every woman should fight back in such cases and they should not keep quiet,” she told Mid-day. Parents of girls also think that going to a police station would tarnish their daughter’s reputation. But, women should raise their voice and teach such people a lesson. Women are not objects for anyone to touch at will.”

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