New Delhi: As many as 54 incident of rape have taken place in the train compartments or at railway stations since last year and 51 accused have been arrested, Rajya Sabha was informed today.
In 2014, 20 cases were reported – six from train compartments and 14 from railway stations, and till November this year, 34 cases have been reported – eight from compartments and 26 from railway stations, Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha said in a written reply.
Last year, 21 people were arrested, and till November this year, 30 persons have been apprehended for the crime, he said. “Policing on Railways is a state subject and prevention of crime, registration of cases and their investigation in Railway premises as well as on running trains including creation of secure environment for women passengers are, therefore, the statutory responsibility of the state governments, which they discharge through Government Railway Police (GRP) of the state concerned,” Sinha said in a written reply.
The Minister, however, said Railway Protection Force (RPF) supplements the efforts of GRP by deploying its staff for escorting of important trains in affected areas and access control duties at important and sensitive stations.
To provide better security to women passengers, he said an Integrated Security System consisting of surveillance of vulnerable stations through Close Circuit Television Camera Network, Access Control and Anti-Sabotage Checks have been finalised for over 202 sensitive Railway stations.
Besides, he said, average 2,000 trains on vulnerable and identified routes/sections are escorted by RPF daily, in addition to 2,200 trains escorted by GRP of different states daily. To a query on whether Railways have provided any financial assistance for rehabilitation of rape victims, Sinha said, in one such case, financial assistance of Rs 2.5 lakh had been provided from the Railway Minister’s Welfare and Relief Fund.