A woman passenger sustained critical head injuries after she was allegedly thrashed by a Railway Protection Force (RPF) constable while travelling in Gitanjali Express from Bengaluru to Howrah, on Friday.
As per reports the alleged incident occurred in the train while it was approaching Rourkela station. The woman passenger, identified as Anita Raj, was beaten up by the RPF constable following a heated argument over travelling in the train without a ticket on Friday afternoon.
The victim subsequently lodged a formal complaint against the constable with the Government Railway Police (GRP), Rourkela in connection with the assault. Anita, who is a computer science engineer, said, “I was travelling in the train without a ticket as I did not have the required money to buy one. I was sitting inside the coach when the RPF constable came and started abusing me for travelling without a ticket. Later he hit me with his baton.”
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According Anita, the TTE is the authorised person to take action against passengers for travelling in the train without valid ticket. “Under what authority did the RPF jawan hit me,” she questioned.
Based on the complaint filed by Anita, the Rourkela GRP have registered a case under Indian Penal Code (IPC) Sections- 341, 294, 506, 354 and the matter is being investigated.
“The complainant has alleged that she had been beaten up by the RPF staff Ajit Kumar Nayak. We have registered a case and further investigation is underway,” said Ranjan Patnaik, an official from the Rourkela GRP.