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Bus Passengers Blissfully Unconcerned as Kolkata Man Gropes Woman

Thankfully, one passenger called a police officer. The woman lodged an FIR and the accused has been arrested.

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A man on a bus in Calcutta groped a 26-year-old woman openly, but all his co-passengers barring one appeared unaffected, reported Telegraph India.

The woman, a clinical psychologist by profession, had boarded a bus on the Paikpara-Garia route at Ultadanga station in Calcutta. Minutes after the accused got into the bus at the Hudco crossing. According to the Telegraph India report, he sat down beside her and started inching towards her once the bus started moving.

A few stops later he almost pinned me against the window to my right. After some time, he touched me inappropriately. I thought it was accidental. But he kept touching me and I was convinced that he was groping me. I told him to sit properly but he pretended that he could not hear me.... I started screaming when he stroked my left thigh and I felt that his hand was moving up. The bus had been packed by then but none of the passengers stood by me.
The 26-year-old woman
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The conductor did not feel the need to do anything about the assault. According to the Telegraph India report, on being asked by the woman to stop the bus, he said: "Bhir bus-e esab hotei pare. Aami er jonyo bus thamabo na (These things can happen on a crowded bus. I won't stop the bus for this)".

My tormentor broke into a smile hearing the conductor’s response. I felt like puking.
The woman

However, a college student travelling on the same bus was having none of it. On reaching the Chingrighata crossing, he got off the bus and returned moments later with a traffic sergeant and a constable, reported Telegraph India.

I broke down and narrated the ordeal to them. They dragged the man off the bus and asked me to accompany them
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The accused, who has been identified as a 52-year-old Jadavpur resident called Amit Baran Das, was taken to the Beleghata traffic guard's office and subsequently to the police station. The woman lodged an FIR and the accused has been arrested.

He has been charged under several sections of the IPC including 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) and 354A (sexual harassment), and has been remanded in judicial custody till 28 May.

However, what comes across as a shock is the general apathy with which the co-passengers regarded the woman's ordeal.

According to the Telegraph report, after the student returned with the cops one of the co passengers allegedly shouted:

Ekhon bus thamiye esab natak dekhey somoy nosto kortey hobe naki (Do we have to waste time on this drama now)?

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