29-year-old woman alleges man flashed her inside Metro station
The woman said that later that night, she had approached the Gurugram police through Facebook Messenger, mentioning the incident, but did not receive any response.
A 29-year-old Delhi-based woman, an interior designer, alleged that a man masturbated on her when she was climbing down an escalator at the Huda City Centre Metro Station complex on June 14.
The woman said that later that night, she had approached the Gurugram police through Facebook Messenger, mentioning the incident, but did not receive any response. She then reached out to the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) officials, who called her to look at the CCTV to identify the culprit on Sunday.
“I identified the culprit in the CCTV footage. I am yet to decide whether to file an FIR as I fear for my safety and fear the consequences,” she said.
An official from DMRC, requesting anonymity, confirmed that the DMRC had provided assistance to the woman after she approached them.
On Monday, she shared her ordeal on Twitter in a series of tweets, questioning the lax security for women in Metro. She said after putting out the incident on Twitter, an official from Gurugram police contacted her and asked her to come to a police station to file a written complaint.
The woman said that the incident took place on June 14 at 9.25pm when she came out of a clothing store on the first floor of the Metro station.
“I was visiting a friend in Gurugram and after deboarding the Metro at the station went to a clothing store to purchase a top. After exiting the store, I was climbing down the escalator when I felt something was wrong on my back. I turned and realised that a man masturbated on me. I was shocked, scared and traumatised. I confronted him. He flashed me and said indecent words; I slapped him,” she said.
According to the woman, the man in question, who remains unidentified, started hurling abuses at her as passersby looked on. “I shouted and called for help, but no one came forward. There were no policemen around. He flashed me again before running away. I ran outside towards a police chowki, but found it closed,” she said.
In one of the tweets, she wrote, “I slapped him, which means something happened. Wasn’t that enough to ring an alarm? We don’t want free rides. We want safety which every government promises but none has been able to provide us. We fear walking out. Was 9.25 really that late? (sic)”
Gurugram police spokesperson Subhash Boken said, “After taking cognisance of the woman’s complaint on Twitter, an official from Metro police station had reached out to her and asked her to file a written complaint with the police as it was a legal formality.”