25 June,2011 06:15 AM IST | | Vedika Chaubey
22-year-old arrested by RPF personnel who caught him red-handed pleasuring himself, after wooing the attention of female passengers on the platform
A 22-year-old youth's depraved obsession of hovering around railway platforms, and pleasuring himself in the public glare sent him behind bars on Thursday evening.
Sunil Vithal Gaikwad, a resident of Govandi, and a staff member of a catering company in Koparkhairane, has the unusual kink he enjoys lurking around railway platforms, with his fly unzipped or his pants down, especially in those spaces on the platform where women congregate to board the ladies' compartment. But it doesn't end there.u00a0
As soon as he caught the attention of a female onlooker, by whistling or calling out to her, he starts stimulating himself, turned on by his public erotic display.
After a 22-year-old girl blew the whistle on Gaikwad's revolting antics, staff members of the Railway Protection Force (RPF) arrested him on Thursday evening.
Sandip Pawar, Senior Police Inspector, Turbhe railway police, said, "A female passenger approached one of the female officers and complained that the boy was making lewd gestures at her, followed by public masturbation.
u00a0
My staff member went along with her to confirm the allegation, and caught the boy red-handed. She alerted the RPF, who immediately nabbed Gaikwad and arrested him."
Pawar added that the boy didn't offer any explanations for his indelicate behaviour. "He claimed that he would enjoy the act, and would do it just for fun," he said.
Though the boy had been indulging in this 'pleasurable' act on a regular basis for the past 15 days, he could only be arrested after being caught red-handedly on Thursday evening.
Sneha Sawant (22), the whistle blower, is a resident of Koparkhairane, sector 16, and had been an unwilling witness to the man's indecorous antics for quite a while.
"One evening, when I was at the Koparkhairane station, I received a phone call. I moved to a relatively secluded corner of the platform so I could speak on the phone in peace. I heard someone whistling at me.
u00a0
Sunil Gaikwad
I looked around, and got the shock of my life. As soon as he had caught my attention, he pulled down his pant and started pleasuring himself," said Sawant.
u00a0
"I tried locating some policemen, to lodge a complaint, but was hesitant to approach male policemen. On Thursday, I saw two policewomen at the platform. I immediately accosted them and gave them an account of what had happened.
u00a0
The lady pulled the man from behind the wall and arrested him, with some assistance from the male RPF personnel. She added, "I request my fellow female commuters not to keep mum if they see if they witness any such indecency. They owe it to others."
P C Sinha, senior deputy security commander, RPF (CR), said, "After receiving a complaint, our men caught the pervert red-handed on Thursday evening.
u00a0
This is a shameful act and I have ordered all my staff members to be on the look out for any such incidents."
Gaikwad was arrested under section 509 of Indian Penal Code.
PDO?
Section 509 of IPC authorises law enforcement agents to arrest any man or woman who utters a word, makes a sound or gesture, or exhibits any object that outrages the modesty of a woman, or intrudes upon her privacy. The arrested may be detained in prison for the duration of upto one year, with/without a fine.
