Jodhpur: An Italian woman tourist has been allegedly molested by a coach attendant inside Ranikhet Express in Rajasthan's Jodhpur, officials said. The accused coach attendant has been banned by a local court for six months following timely intervention by the Union Railway Ministry. According to Jodhpur GRP station in-charge Mahesh Shrimali the alleged incident took place on the night of Wednesday, Apr. 5.
Shrimali said that the Italian woman tourist was on way to Jaisalmer in Ranikhet Express. The woman tourist alleged that she was sitting alone in her cabin inside coach A-1 when the coach attendant Shri Bengali Gupta, 53 years old, a resident of Dauli range of Nainital in Uttarakhand started molesting her. Frightened by this, the foreign woman said that she hid in the toilet to escape the sexual assault and informed her Indian friend on the phone from the toilet itself.
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It is learnt that the woman tourist's friend brought the matter into the notice of Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav by posting o Twitter and tagging the Railway Minister. The Railway Ministry took a serious note of the matter and took up the alleged molestation bid with the concerned Railway authorities. A Railway official said that as soon as the train reached Phalodi station, RPF and GRP officials caught the attendant near Leelan store and took him off the train.
The accused coach attendant was presented in the court, which banned him for six months. An official said that even though the victim woman tourist did not lodge any complaint into the matter, RPF and GRP took cognizance of the matter based on the tweet by the woman's friend. As for the Italian woman tourist, an official said that she reached Jaisalmer safely late at night with the help of the Railway officials.
