With no assist from fellow passengers, faculty pupil chases down man who harassed her on bus

Express News Service

KASARGOD: A school pupil chased down and caught a person who allegedly sexually harassed her on a bus in Kanhangad. The man has been remanded in custody.

Arathi Panicker (21) of Karivellur village in Kannur district is successful accolades after she shared her expertise on Facebook.

Actor Navya Nair related Arathi’s bravery to her new film Oruthee, the place the protagonist, a ship conductor, fights again towards injustice. Actor Saiju Kurup additionally shared the faculty pupil’s ordeal on social media.

But Arathi, who accomplished her BSc from Nehru Arts and Science and College in Kanhangad, mentioned each girl is on her personal when harassed or sexually assaulted and he or she must take up the duty to guard her physique. “No one will come to our rescue,” she mentioned sharing her personal expertise in a video on Facebook.

The incident she narrated occurred a couple of days in the past when the personal buses have been on strike and he or she took a government-run KSRTC bus to go to Kanhangad from Karivellur, a 40-minute journey.

As there was no vacant seat, Arathi needed to stand on the bus. “The man, who is older than my father, started leaning on me and I immediately realised what he is trying to do. So I told him he was making me uncomfortable and asked him to back off,” she mentioned.

Arathi mentioned there was sufficient house for him to face again however he refused to take action. He began harassing her once more. “I felt violated. My (blood) pressure started rising and I felt physically and mentally harassed,” she mentioned.

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That’s when Arathi shouted at him and determined to name the Pink Police. But then the conductor intervened and requested him to get off the bus when it reached Kanhangad. “Then the conductor told me to ignore the incident. I said I am not leaving it because this was not the first time I am facing it,” she mentioned.

When the person bought off the bus, Arathi too bought down, turned on her video digicam, and chased her.

When he entered a lottery store, Arathi caught up with him and raised a hue and cry. “I told him if he runs I will smack him,” she mentioned.

By then a crowd had gathered they usually blocked him and Arathi referred to as the Pink Police (1515). They put her via the inspector of Hosdurg station.

From the group, a person requested Arathi to not press prices towards the alleged abused. “When I asked him if a similar incident happened to a woman of his family will his response be the same, he slowly withdrew from the crowd,” she mentioned.

Soon the police arrived and took him into custody. Arathi went to the police station and filed her criticism and he was arrested and later remanded in custody.

The police recognized the accused as Rajeev of Maniyat in Kasaragod’s Pilicode panchayat.

Two days earlier than this incident, Arathi mentioned she was harassed by one other particular person on a non-public bus in Nileshwar. “When I raised an alarm, the other passengers just stared at me. Even the conductor did not come to my rescue. Only one woman told me to approach a police officer who was standing outside,” she mentioned.

By then the harasser bought out and escaped.

Both the instances, it occurred throughout day time. “How can women travel alone at night if this is the situation during the day with so many passengers on the bus,” she requested. “That’s why I want women to stand up.”