NEW DELHI: One-and-a-half months earlier, a 19-year-old

student had jumped off a

near South Extension after being harassed by a man. On Tuesday night, however, a 23-year-old

student — on way home from Kapashera to Sangam Vihar on route number 717 — dragged her molester by the collar out of the bus, called the PCR and got him arrested. This fiesty girl, however, got no help from either the cluster bus staff or the passengers, adding another chapter of shame to the Capital’s perplexing indifference to safety of women.

The student boarded the bus, which was packed with passengers, at Kapashera and took a seat reserved for women. The incident happened around 9 pm. The man, identified as Mukesh Ranjan Kumar, 37, was standing beside her. In no time, he had started rubbing himself against her. “I first ignored him, but he continued touching me inappropriately. When I asked him to move away, he unzipped his pants and started touching himself,” she recalled in disgust. The man was masturbating.

Undeterred by her protests, he grabbed her by the hand and tried to pull her towards himself. The woman shook him off and hit him with her sandal. “There were no marshals in the bus. The conductor and driver didn’t bother to come to my aid. There were about 40-45 passengers but no one protested while the man was misbehaving with me. He was also threatening me with dire consequences,” she told TOI.

When the bus reached Mehrauli, the woman forced the driver to stop the bus. She stood up, grabbed the man by his collar and dragged him out of the bus. “He was reeking of liquor and kept trying to free himself. After I raised an alarm, passersby helped me pin him down till the cops arrived and arrested him,” she added.

DCP (south) Vijay Kumar said Mukesh is a resident of Molarband in Badarpur and works at an event management company in Rangpuri. He had boarded the bus near Mahipalpur. He was heavily drunk and was sent for a medical examination. “We have registered a case of molestation at Mehrauli police station,” he added.

The incident has proved that the authorities have learnt no lessons and public transport is as unsafe for women as ever.