Patna: In the day of light even travelling for women as well a school going girls has become a menace. In a scandalous incident a group of 93 schoolgirls were reportedly molested and sexually harassed by a gang of men while travelling on a train in Bihar on Sunday November 24.

It is learnt that the group of girls were returning from Patna after visiting an environmental conference and were accompanied by three women teachers from Carmel School in Dhanbad and Digwadih, when they were harassed.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has asked authorities to initiate action against the suspects. He had asked the additional director-general, railways, to take legal action against the suspects.

He said, “I have asked the ADG railway to initiate immediate action against the culprits and also fix responsibility as to who was responsible for this shocking incident.”

According to the victims’ account, the awfulness began soon after they boarded the Ganga-Damodar express at the Patna junction. The students noticed that their reserved seats were occupied by a large group of men who claimed to be participants of a railway recruitment examination.

Reportedly the men passed lewd remarks and refused to vacate the seats despite repeated requests by the girls and their teachers, as police officers and other railway people did not even bother to intervene.

It is also been learnt that the authorities have suspended five police officials for not taking instantaneous action.
 
The men also allegedly misbehaved and assaulted the women teachers who had protested against their lewd comments. The teachers then took the girls to another part of the train. However the suspects allegedly followed them there too and continued harassing them.

The ordeal lasted until the alleged oppressors got off the train at the Koderma railway station in Jharkhand.