Railway stations mostly deserted

Chennai: Are women ever going to be safe in our country? Will they ever confidently say they aren’t afraid of walking or travelling alone after sunset? Well, for now, and maybe for much longer, the answer is going to be no. These questions come to light as another recent chain snatching incident forces us to stop and think whether our mother, daughter, sister or any other female family member, who is perhaps sitting beside us right now, is really as safe as we believe her to be.

On Monday, a chain snatcher pushed a woman, N. Muniswari, out of the ladies’ compartment of an Electric Multiple Unit (EMU) train near Fort station, which led to her fracturing her shoulder. Three days after the alarming incident, when other women travelling on the same route were asked to describe their experiences pertaining to railway safety, Deccan Chronicle received mixed reactions from them. Revathy S, who works in a private firm, said, “I travel a very short distance  between Guindy and Pazhavanthangal  which involves only two stations. Though there is a crowd, certain stations look deserted, especially at night. Guindy is much safer than Pazhavanthangal.”

Another MNC worker, Rajalakshmi, who travels between Tambaram Sanitorium and Chetpet, said that she travelled by train after 9 pm very often. “I stay in Tambaram Sanitorium and usually take the 9.40 pm train from Chetpet. Sometimes, I have taken the 10.45 pm train too. But I have always felt safe. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) is always there at night. But some stations after Tambaram are deserted,” she said.

“More than the train, some stations are  especially scary, especially the ones after Perungalathur, towards the Chengalpattu route. Though I don’t frequently travel beyond Tambaram, the few visits to stations after Tambaram have made me feel unsafe,” said Rajalakshmi, who crosses about 12 stations twice a day.

According to women who are frequent night travellers, all stations after Tambaram, till Chengalpattu, and the two stations after Chennai Park – Chennai Fort and Chennai Beach – are unsafe as the stations as well as the trains are deserted. D. Ramalingam, deputy manager, commercial, at Tambaram railway station, said, “The crowded stations usually don’t face a problem. Stations like Potheri and Paranur have had incidents of chain snatching. Despite the fact that the RPF and the Government Railway Police (GRP) are on duty, such incidents happen in these deserted areas.”