Chennai: RPF constable risks own life to avert rape attempt | Photo Credit: Representative Image

Chennai: In a display of extraordinary bravery, a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable jumped out of a moving train in Tamil Nadu’s capital city while attempting to rescue a girl who could have otherwise been raped by a man aboard the train on Monday night.

K Shivaji, 26, climbed into the train’s adjacent compartment between the Chintadripet and Park railway stations after he heard the screams of the victim in the compartment next to his when the train exited the Chintadripet railway station. Since the train compartment was not vestibular, the RPF constable jumped out of the moving train in order to enter the adjacent compartment as soon as the train arrived at the Park railway station.

Upon entering the compartment, Shivaji saw the man attempting to rape the woman, which is when he pushed the accused away. By that time, other members of the constable’s team arrived and found the woman unconscious. With her clothes torn and her lips bleeding, the victim was rushed to the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital. The 25-year-old victim’s condition is now stable, said doctors attending to her.

GRP head Pon Manickavel met the victim in the hospital and said the woman informed him that constable Shivaji had rescued her life. What Shivaji did was way beyond what the call of his duty mandated. “I have given a cash reward of Rs 5,000 for the services of the RPF,” said IGP Manickavel, in appreciation.

Meanwhile, the accused, identified as Sathyaraj of Velachery, was apprehended and handed over to the Egmore Government Railway Police (GRP).

The incident has raised serious concerns amongst activists and lawyers concerning the safety of females aboard Chennai’s Mass Rapid Transit System (MRTS). Those concerned have urged the railway police to heighten patrolling along the MRTS after the dark and requested that the patrol parties include female police personnel. MRTS authorities have also been asked to improve lighting atop trains and at railway stations along the train network.

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