TTE who abused teen for challenging corruption gets jail

Mumbai: Holding the case to be an example of ego clashes and a young victim's fight against corruption, a special court on Monday convicted and sentenced a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) to one-year jail for his "sole intention to insult the modesty" of a 17-year-old girl after he publicly shamed her in 2017 by claiming girls like her "roam with boyfriends in gardens with hands on their waists" instead of attending college."The accused is a govt servant serving in the railway department, which is to serve the general public. He and other staff are to help the public and not to threaten them with putting them behind bars and using any obscene words for women," said special judge S V Sahare. The judge noted that such words were not expected from a "matured person" at the age of 46.While the court acquitted the TTE, Ramchandra Khatape, of Pocso Act charges due to lack of proven sexual intent, it found him guilty under Section 509 of IPC (word, gesture or act intended to insult the modesty of a woman).Among the witnesses to depose were the girl, a friend, her father and her uncle.On July 13, 2017, the girl and a male friend travelled from Ambernath to CSMT for admission to an arts college. On their arrival, they were stopped by two TTEs who accused them of a "break journey" violation and demanded a fine of Rs 540. When the students explained they only had Rs 200, the officials took the money but refused to provide a receipt, leading to a long dispute across different platforms and offices at the station. In about 2 hours, Khatape as well as the girl's father and her uncle, an advocate, arrived. The uncle tweeted about the incident.Angered by the family's resistance and the social media post, Khatape began to verbally abuse the girl. He told her that she had likely "stepped off a train with a boyfriend" and was "roaming around in the name of college", adding that she had "grown wings". Following the verbal abuse, the girl was made to pay the full fine to be let go and Khatape took a parting shot at her by suggesting that she take money from him to "buy a loaf of ice (sic)" and place it on her father and her uncle's heads.The court noted that refusing to give a payment receipt showed that the TTEs "just wanted to grab" the money. It dismissed the claim of false allegations, reasoning that no family member would risk a young girl's reputation by falsely attributing such derogatory language to her.