Thane: Pointing “law breakers need to be dealt with deterrently” and protection of women must be reinforced, an additional sessions court in Thane recently convicted a 29-year-old man from West Bengal for sexually harassing a woman railway constable at Digha Railway Station in Sept 2024, sentencing him to a year of simple imprisonment. The accused was found guilty under Section 75(1)(iv) and Section 79 of the BNS for making sexually obscene remarks and outraging the modesty of a woman — as well as Section 147 of the Indian Railways Act for trespassing on railway property without a valid ticket.According to the prosecution, the complainant, posted at Byculla, alighted from a Thane local train at Digha station and waited on a bench at platform no. 3 for a friend. The accused sat beside her and began murmuring. When she shifted to another bench, he followed her and said, “Chal mere saath” (come with me). The constable beat the accused, after which an on-duty railway policeman intervened and took both to the police station. The judge found the complainant’s testimony reliable and consistent with her complaint, observing that cross-examination failed to bring out any material contradictions. The spot panchanama and seizure panchanama of CCTV footage further corroborated her version. However, the court acquitted the accused of the stalking charge under Section 78 of BNS, noting the prosecution failed to prove the element of “repeated” contact despite a clear indication of disinterest by the woman.
