mumbai

Updated: Oct 12, 2017 09:55 IST

The Government Railway Police (GRP) have arrested a 30-year-old man for allegedly molesting a 34-year old lawyer at Kurla station on Tuesday afternoon.

According to the Kurla GRP police officers, the 34-year-old lawyer, who is also the member of the committee against woman harassment, was standing on the Kurla railway platform when the accused came and stood next to her. The lawyer, who lives in Santacruz, was on her way towards Borivli at 3.25pm when the incident took place. The woman in her complaint said that the accused whispered lewd words in her ear, following which he grabbed her hand.

The lawyer then raised an alarm and alerted the GRP and Railway Police Force officials patrolling the platform. The police officers nabbed the accused then, who was identified as Gautam Kamble, a daily wage worker.

The lawyer then approached the Kurla GRP and registered a complaint against the man who was arrested on the charges of molestation under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code.

The accused was produced before court on Wednesday where he was remanded in judicial custody for seven days. “We want more women to speak up like the lawyer and register a complaint against people like Kamble,” said Mahesh Balwantrao, senior police inspector of Kurla GRP.

Official data revealed that at least one woman is molested daily on railway premises daily. To help women come forward and help the officials to get to the accused faster, the GRP have now started a helpline 1512, so that help reaches the victim faster. “The helpline have started getting calls. In a day, we receive at least 200 calls, mostly from women. We are now trying to create awareness about this helpline so that instead of 10 other numbers, the callers can contact us through one number,” said Niket Kaushik, commissioner, railway police.