A day after a Navi Mumbai resident was arrested and later released on bail for allegedly assaulting and molesting an on-duty woman bus conductor in Dombivli, the Manpada police arrested the suspect again on Thursday, applying a stronger, non-bailable section. Meanwhile, the victim’s husband, recounting her horrific experience, told Newsline, just two-three people came to her rescue. Abhishek Singh (30), a resident of Kalamboli, was trying to board a bus to Panvel from Sonarpada in Dombivli on Wednesday morning when the driver asked him to board the bus from the back instead of from the front. This sparked off an argument between Singh and the driver and when the conductor tried to intervene, Singh allegedly dragged her off the bus, assaulted her and tore her clothes. He was later arrested and charged under sections 353 (assault or criminal force to deter a public servant from discharging their duties) and 354 (outraging a woman’s modesty) under the Indian Penal Code. As both the sections were bailable, he was granted bail on the same day after being produced in court. Charging him under section 7 of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, the police arrested him again on Thursday, from his Kalamboli residence. “The section is basically an extension to section 353 of the IPC, and is non-bailable. We have arrested Singh and will be producing him before court on Friday,” said Senior Police Inspector Milind Patil, Manpada police station. The victim had to be hospitalised on Thursday morning due to severe body ache. “My wife has been working as a conductor for four years but never faced such a horrible experience before. She was dragged off the bus and beaten to the point of losing consciousness when she intervened in the argument between Singh and the driver and asked the former to stop using filthy languages as the driver was of his father’s age,” he said. On Wednesday, a bus that was passing by stopped due to the commotion and the conductor aboard this bus, also a woman, jumped off and came to the victim’s rescue. She, too, was assaulted by Singh and at this point, two to three passersby intervened. The victim had lost consciousness by then. It was only after she regained consciousness that she called her husband, who was at work and he rushed to the spot. The police said the second conductor will be made a witness in the case. gautam.mengle@expressindia.com
