Two Congress MLAs in Madhya Pradesh have been booked for allegedly sexually harassing a woman on Rewanchal Express on Thursday, railway police said on Friday.
The legislators, Sidharth Kushwaha from Satna and Suneel Saraf from Kotma, were allegedly in an inebriated state when they reportedly harassed the woman, who was travelling from Rewa to Bhopal with her husband and seven-month-old son in H-1 coach.
According to Sagar general railway police (GRP) in-charge P K Ahirwar, the woman’s husband reached out to police for help on Twitter, following which railway police at Sagar boarded the train and helped her.
“In her complaint, the woman said that at around 11.50pm, two men, Siddharth Kushwaha and Sunil Saraf, were having dinner in front of her seat. They were continuously using obscene language. She said one of them touched her shoulder and asked for food,” Ahirwar said.
“The woman said she did not respond since they were drunk. She said they again touched her. She requested them to not touch her and use abusive language but they did not stop,” Ahirwar added.
Railway police soon received information from Jabalpur Control Room after her husband tweeted about the purported harassment, the officer said.
“An assistant sub-inspector and constable boarded the train at Sagar and changed the seat of the woman. They registered her statement and lodged an FIR against the two accused, who were later identified as Congress MLAs, under section 354 (sexual harassment) of Indian Penal Code,” Ahirwar said.
{{/usCountry}}“An assistant sub-inspector and constable boarded the train at Sagar and changed the seat of the woman. They registered her statement and lodged an FIR against the two accused, who were later identified as Congress MLAs, under section 354 (sexual harassment) of Indian Penal Code,” Ahirwar said.
{{/usCountry}}The woman’s husband said they were not aware that the two accused are Congress MLAs. “We did not know that the accused are Congress MLAs but thankfully police took immediate action and helped my wife,” he said.
Kushwaha, however, dismissed the “baseless” allegation. “The woman was travelling with a baby, so I offered her my seat very politely. Suneel ji asked for food as a courtesy. I don’t know why she felt offended and filed a complaint. The allegations are baseless,” he said.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state sought a response from state Congress chief Kamal Nath on the matter.
“Kamal Nath ji should answer. Harassing a woman in an intoxicated state, does this MLA belong to your party,” BJP spokesperson Lokendra Parashar said.
Congress spokesperson JP Dhanopia refused to comment on the matter. “I don’t know what exactly happened, so I can’t comment on that,” he said.
(with inputs from Anupam Pateriya from Sagar)