Taking note of newspaper reports of a woman jumping off a moving train to escape attempted theft and rape, the Kerala High Court on Friday (30/04/2021) instituted a Suo Moto case to evaluate the safety measures for women passengers in trains.
The matter was taken up by a Single-member Bench of the High Court comprising Justice Bechu Kurian Thomas.
The Court directed the State Government, State Police and the Railways to sit together and come up with measures to ensure women’s safety in trains.
The incident taken cognizance of by the court happened in the early hours of Thursday on board the Guruvayur-Punalur Express. A 31-year-old government employee jumped off the moving train to escape a theft and rape bid by the identified accused.
Kerala in 2011 has witnessed a similar case where a woman was pushed of a moving train by a co-passenger who later raped and murdered her.
Taking up the matter the court instructed the government that the suggestions drawn up should be placed before the court in six weeks. The court expressed that it hopes that the government and other authorities will allay the fears of the public.
In the afternoon sitting of the court, the Director-General of Prosecutions, Senior Public Prosecutor Suman Chakravarthy informed the court about the steps already taken by the State Government to ensure women's safety on trains. It was submitted that the state is already setting up security installations in all stations, promoting community policing in railways and deploying a mobile application that can send location-enabled distress messages to beat police.
The Public Prosecutor also informed the court about a proposed red-button system in the trains that can inform the guards in the event of distress. It was also pleaded that Principal Chief Security Commissioner; Southern Railway Chennai and the SP Railway Government Railway Police be impleaded as parties in the Suo Moto petition. Granting this plea by the state, the court directed that further suggestions for improving women passenger safety be placed before it in six weeks.
