A student of the Delhi University (DU) was allegedly masturbated at and molested by a middle-aged man in a crowded bus. To add on to the girl's agony, the co-passengers ignored her plight and chose to remain silent.
Though the incident took place on February 7, it made headlines only on Monday, February 12.
#Delhi University student lodges FIR at Vasant Vihar Police station against a man for molesting her onboard a bus, the girl has also uploaded the video of the incident on social media, which shows the man sitting next to her & masturbating.
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2018
'No one to her rescue'
The girl, who has filed an FIR with Vasant Vihar police station, said that she was molested when she was travelling on a bus between Vasant Village and IIT Gate.
In her FIR, she also said that the bus was crowded and the man sitting beside her started masturbating at her. He also repeatedly touched her waist.
She shouted at the accused, but he did not listen to her. The co-passengers also "ignored it," the victim said in her FIR.
She recorded a video of the man and later uploaded it on social media.
"I made a video of the incident and posted it on social media to make people aware of the incident. People do not even consider something like this a form of sexual harassment," the girl was quoted as saying by ANI.
I was travelling in crowded bus when a man sitting next to me masturbated. I was left stunned but then I made a video of the incident & posted it on social media to make people aware of the incident.People don't even consider something like this a form of sexual harassment:Victim pic.twitter.com/9rKw1lpbZK
— ANI (@ANI) February 12, 2018
Though the police have registered the FIR under sections 354 (sexual harassment), 354-A (making sexually coloured remarks), and 294 (obscene act in public place) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), no arrest has been made yet.
However, this is not the first time that a Delhi woman has been masturbated at in a public place.
Earlier on December 2017, a 32-year-old teacher working at a private institute was allegedly molested and masturbated at on the terrace of a building in Delhi's Connaught Place.
However, in this case, the other people in the building had rushed to the terrace on hearing her screams. The incident has left the victim traumatised. She had refused to enter or exit the building without being escorted by a male friend.