Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Man strikes fear in women’s compartment

CHENNAI: A man in his early thirties caused panic in a women’s compartment of an MRTS train at Velachery on Friday morning.

The man gained entry into the compartment through a passage in the wall that separated it from the next compartment. By the time the train reached Perungudi, the man had snatched a handbag from Niraimathi, a commuter. He spilled all the contents of the handbag including food in her lunch box, she said.

“I requested the driver to stop the train for a little longer in Perungudi till we could chase him away, but he refused to oblige,” she complained.

Finally when the train reached Taramani, passengers in nearby compartment rushed to the ladies compartment and tried to drag the man out. With the help of an RPF constable, the passengers nabbed the man. In the melee, the train was held up for nearly 15 minutes.

Sources in the Railway Protection Force said the man was mentally disturbed and was seen pelting stones at people in the cycle stand near the Velachery station which hit an RPF constable.

G. Ezhilarasi, a regular MRTS commuter, said this was not the first time commuters in the train were troubled by miscreants. She said there were many women who begged in the train and hurled abuses at those who did not pay. In the evening drunk men can also be seen causing inconvenience to commuters.

“The RPF needs to be more vigilant about who is entering the train. It would be ideal to have them around in non-rush hour too because during rush hour someone or other would rush to help when there is trouble,” she said.

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