‘Slapped, abused, molested and dress torn in public’: Kolkata journalist fights back; drags molester off bus, hands him to police | Kolkata News
KOLKATA: A woman journalist returning home from work was allegedly slapped, abused, molested, and had her dress torn by a 55-year-old co-passenger in a bus. The accused, Sanjay Basak, a resident of Narayanpur, was seated on a seat reserved for women, next to the complainant, in a private bus on Friday night.According to the complaint filed by the woman, the accused started touching her inappropriately after he occupied the seat near Ultadanga. “I asked him several times to sit properly, but he was abusive and questioned my morality since I was returning so late at night and advised me to take a cab instead. Initially, I tried to adjust, but after some point, the discomfort was too much, and I shouted at him, raising an alarm,” the woman told TOI.Startled by the woman’s cries, the man stood up, to which the woman kept the bag she was holding on the seat to create a barrier. “The man picked up the bag and threw it at me. As I got startled and raised my voice, he slapped me and began tugging at my clothes, which eventually got torn,” she said.The woman, however, didn’t get intimidated and dialled the local police station to narrate her ordeal. The cops were quick to act and asked her to get down at Baguiati crossing while promising to send a team of officers at the earliest. The woman, with the help of some co-passengers, dragged the man out of the bus. Cops soon arrived, noted her complaint, and took the accused to Baguiati police station.“We have registered a case under BNS sections dealing with molestation, voluntarily causing grievous hurt, criminal intimidation, wrongful restraint, and mischief and arrested the person from the spot. The woman, who underwent a medical examination, will depose her confidential statement before the magistrate on Monday,” said a Bidhannagar City Police officer.Basak was produced before a Barasat court, which granted him bail with conditions of timely appearance before the magistrate and not leaving the city without investigating officer’s nod.
