18-year-old girl chases, beats up molester at bus stop

Nagpur: Fed up of a man gesturing indecently at the Gandhi Nagar bus stop, an 18-year-old girl chased and thrashed him publicly before handing him over to the police and filing a complaint against him on Tuesday afternoon. The first-year arts student of a girl’s college at Shankar Nagar had first ignored the man, but her patience snapped when he continued to make girls waiting at the bus stop feel uncomfortable.
Neeraj Yadav, who has learnt karate and aspires to be a police officer, told TOI that she would not tolerate such nuisance anywhere. Recalling an earlier incident, she said that a few months ago she had thrashed a youth at Sitabuldi for beating a small boy for no reason. Describing her as the bravest among three siblings, her parents said that she cannot tolerate something wrong taking place around her.
On Yadav’s complaint, Ambazari police arrested 40-year-old Omprakash Sharma on molestation charges. Police inspector BB Khade said that he was granted bail by the district court on Wednesday. Police said that Sharma, a cook, stays with his family at Dhantoli, and confessed to the crime and said he felt guilty.
The incident took place on Tuesday at 4.20pm, when many girls from the college gather at the bus stop to head home. “A group of girls noticed the man on his cycle, opening his pants and making indecent gestures towards them. But the girls ignored him and moved away. Later, my four friends and I noticed the same thing and we too choose to stand at some other place. I lost my patience when the man came close to us and continued doing the same acts,” said Yadav, who has completed two years course in karate and participated in school level competitions.
Yadav was waiting for a Starbus heading towards Hingna. Her bus had just reached the stop and Yadav was about to board with her friends when suddenly something struck her mind, and she walked towards the man. Her friends too waited for her.
“I questioned him what his problem was, and he started cycling to the other side of the road. I chased him but he entered an apartment building. I did not follow him inside since I had to ensure my safety. I took the help of some passers-by and dragged him out of the apartment. By this time, my friends too reached the spot and we all started thrashing him,” said the gutsy teenager.
Later, the college staff alerted police control room and Ambazari police took the culprit into custody. Yadav wants to continue her karate coaching, but financial conditions at home do not allow her to do that. “I completed my two-year course, which was free coaching, during my school days,” she said.
Appreciating the girl’s act, Khade said the girl had made the man realize his mistake and probably he will never repeat the same mistake again.