French Woman Molested On Train By Co-Passenger

On June 10, a 29-year-old French woman was molested on a Kolkata-bound train by a fellow passenger who had offered her a seat earlier, as per reports.

The incident

The woman was travelling with a male friend, also French, on the Jamalpur Express when the alleged incident occurred at night. The train was near Pakur station near the Bengal-Jharkhand border at the time.

One of the passengers, identified as 31-year-old Md Arshad Hussain, saw the French woman and her friend sitting near the coach door. He offered her his seat, saying he will get off at Pakur so she can take his berth. As it was late in the evening, the woman thanked him and lay down on the bunk.

Soon after, she felt someone groping her and woke up to see Hussain standing near her. She warned him to stay away and tried to sleep again. Unaffected by the warning, the man groped her once again. She woke up and slapped him. Shocked, the man punched her back, as per the police. Hearing the noise, her friend standing near the door and other passengers came to her aid.

Police said the French woman and her friend were forced to travel on an unreserved ticket sitting near one of the coach entrances since TTE could not provide a reserved seat despite a quota for foreigners

She handed him over with help from other passengers

As the train reached Burdwan station around 4.30am, a few hours from Pakur, the train cops had him arrested. The French duo also got off at Burdwan and lodged a complaint.