In Madhya Pradesh, 2 Cong MLAs booked for harassing woman travelling with her baby on train
The accused MLAs were identified as Sidharth Kushwaha (Satna) and Suneel Saraf (Kotma) who were booked by the GRP under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (use of assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) at Sagar station.
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Saraf said they were sleeping when around 3am, two cops came and informed them that they have been accused of harassing a woman.Two Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh were booked by the Government Railway Police (GRP) allegedly for sexually harassing a woman while travelling in the Rewa-Habibganj Rewanchal Express train on Thursday night.
The accused MLAs were identified as Sidharth Kushwaha (Satna) and Suneel Saraf (Kotma) who were booked by the GRP under Section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (use of assault or criminal force on a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) at Sagar station. The incident came to light after the woman, who was travelling with her infant, shared her ordeal with her husband, who in turn sought “help” on Twitter after which the GRP reached the woman at Sagar.
In his tweet, the woman’s husband stated, “My wife is travelling with my newborn baby. The other two persons are drunk and have started abusing. You [GRP] are requested to rush there immediately.” According to Sagar GRP in-charge PK Ahirwar, they were informed by the control room that a woman in a particular coach needed help. “We deputed three personnel…they travelled with her up to Bhopal and recorded her statement, based on which an FIR under Section 354 of the IPC was registered at Sagar against the Congress MLAs,” Ahirwar said.
The woman in her statement to the police said: “While I was asleep with my baby… the two Congress MLAs, too, were in the same coach. They were drunk and abusive. As I was asleep, they woke me up and tapped on my shoulder, seeking to know if I had eaten my dinner.” She further said the two didn’t pay any heed to her requests to behave. It was only after the police reached that she could change the coach. Even as she was leaving, the woman alleged, Kotma MLA Saraf stopped her and asked why she was leaving and “if there was any problem?”
Saraf termed the complaint baseless, saying, “I boarded the train from Katni and bumped into Khushwaha by chance. There were four people in the coach, the two of us [MLAs], the woman and another passenger who was asleep on an upper berth. When I entered the coach at Katni and tried to turn on light, the woman was against it as the child was asleep. We [MLAs] had dinner and stepped out to wash our hands.” He said when they [MLAs] were returning to the coach, they saw the woman moving out. “We reached our berths and were more comfortable as she was the only woman in coach.”
Saraf said they were sleeping when around 3am, two cops came and informed them that they have been accused of harassing a woman. “We [MLAs] were shocked. The police clicked our pictures and left.” The two legislators subsequently learnt of the tweets put out by the woman’s husband.
Saraf said the “woman’s husband has accused Sidharth of harassing her, while her complaint accuses me of the same”. “Both stories are not consistent. We are public representatives, how can we afford to behave in such a manner… in an AC coach of a train… there was a fourth passenger in the coach, who, too, was equally shocked when the police reached alleging harassment.”
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