Delhi Vlogger Accuses RPF Officer of Molestation on Guwahati Train

GUWAHATI: A travel agent and vlogger from Delhi alleged that a railway police officer molested him while he was on a train from Guwahati to Rangapara North Junction in Assam.

The incident occurred on April 25, and came to light after the vlogger, Deepak Samal, talked about it in a video on Instagram.

In an interview with Moneycontrol, the 30-year-old man from Rohini explained the incident, saying, "It happened in the middle of the night. I was sleeping on the lower berth when someone shone a torch in my face. I woke up to see a strong man in a uniform looking down at me, and I thought he was an RPF officer doing a regular check. He asked me some questions about myself, my job, and where I was headed. I was surprised by the incident, but I thought those were standard questions."

Shortly after, the officer sat down on Samal's bed. "I had my backpack on the bed, so there wasn't much space left, but he still sat down by my legs. I thought he might be tired, and because he was an officer, I didn't think much of it and went back to sleep," he explained.

Samal woke up again when he felt someone elbowing his private parts. "It was the RPF officer. Confused and disoriented, I thought maybe it was accidental, so I tried to go back to sleep."

Shortly after that, Samal felt someone grabbing his private parts. He woke up suddenly and saw the same officer. "What do you think you're doing?" he shouted. Samal claims the man in uniform said, "time-pass," before quickly leaving the coach.

"At that moment, I was hurt and shocked and didn't know what to do. My station, Rangapara, was also approaching soon. I got off the train and recorded a video talking about the incident, but I didn't share it right away," Samal told Moneycontrol.

When asked if he thought about filing a complaint at Rangapara station, he said he did consider it but decided against it because he had a long journey ahead and couldn't afford any delays.

Samal has now lodged a complaint with Railway Madad, which is Indian Railway's official system for handling complaints.

While he waits for the authorities to investigate, he's aware of some issues that might affect the probe. Firstly, he wasn't sure if it was an RPF officer or a home guard. Secondly, he couldn't see the person's face or name tag.

In response to the incident, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) of the Northeast Frontier Railway, Sabyasachi De, told Moneycontrol that the authorities are currently investigating the case. Because it was reported a few days after the incident, the probe is expected to take some time.