Rough times for train bullies

A Mumbai local train can be a lonely and dangerous place.  Forget major crimes, 387 people have been booked between January and August this year simply for bullying fellow commuters.

Among those convicted, 36 office-goers, collegians and businessmen are cooling their heels in jail. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) has also collected Rs91,125 as fine from the offenders in the eight months.

The good news is that an important addition in the Railways Act made last year has brought in an era of greater policing and conviction in such “window-seat” crimes. People have been booked for blocking extra seats in groups, stopping people from boarding and getting off at particular stations and manhandling those who protest.

Milind Kelkar, an Andheri resident, spends Rs1,000 for a monthly first class season ticket. He reaches the railway station a good 15 minutes before the 7:20am local arrives at the platform. However, despite jumping on to the running train, he does not get a seat.

Some groups of passengers dump bags or handkerchiefs on the empty seats to reserve them for friends boarding from the next station. “I asked them to remove the handkerchief. They did not even look at me. When I tried to remove it
myself, they held my hand hard and told me to wait till Ghatkopar,” complains Kelkar. “Should I take this treatment just because I do not travel in a group?”

New York-based couple Mark and Susan share a worse experience in their blog. The couple had put up in a rented apartment in Mulund for a month.

The following incident happened when the couple were heading to Borivali in a Virar-bound local. At their destination, fellow passengers stopped them from getting off.

The couple was told that if they boarded a Virar-bound local, they had no option but to get down at Virar.

“We told the group that being foreigners we were unaware of their rule. They allowed us to struggle our way to the door and pushed us as the train reached the station,” the blog read. The two were left with bruises on their knees and elbows.

Psychologist Jayant Apte says people have allowed the menace to grow. “I was stunned to find a group blocking the left half of the compartment’s door. When I protested, they told me that only the right half can be used to board or get off the train. Such ‘rules’ have become the custom because society has been tolerant. Also, people, when in a group, tend to misuse power.”

The amendment to the Railway Act has empowered the RPF to come to terms with the crime that has for long been under wraps. Atul Pathak, Divisional Security Commissioner, RPF, Central Railway, says, “The amended law allows the force to initiate surprise drives because victims seldom register a police complaint.”

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Railway Passengers’ Association, a body comprising 800 members, has proposed a cyclic time-table to tackle the menace. “According to this time-table, the halt points of a local train would be reduced. For instance, a Virar-bound local will not halt at Andheri and Borivali. This would give a 12-car train a reprieve from bearing the load of 20 stations,” explains Deepak Gandhi, president of the association.

Asked about the status of the proposal, Prakash Rao, additional divisional railway manager, says, “We have forwarded it to the Centre. Once they allow us to change the time-table, we will implement it.”