Kottayam: Despite the railway’s efforts to improve women’s safety during train journeys, an incident of harassment occurred when a drunken passenger attempted to molest women on board. The accused, identified as 33-year-old Velayudhan Pillai from Kollam, was caught by fellow passengers and handed over to the railway police. The incident took place on the (12626) Kerala Express travelling to Thiruvananthapuram at 6:30 pm on Wednesday, near Changanassery.

According to witnesses, the intoxicated passenger had boarded the train from Kottayam and began misbehaving with women shortly after. When the women tried to move away, he continued his actions, prompting other travellers to intervene. With much effort, male passengers restrained him by removing his shirt and tying his hands. Despite his attempts to escape, he was held down until police intervention.

After the confrontation, passengers attempted to alert Changanassery railway authorities. However, since the incident began after the train left Kottayam station, they decided to inform the railway police upon reaching Changanassery. Their efforts proved difficult as they were unable to find any officers at the station, and attempts to contact the railway helpline also failed.

It was only after the train passed Thiruvalla that passengers realised there were no railway police present at either of the previous two stations. As the offence had started near Kottayam, the accused was brought back there later that night for evidence collection and further investigation.