In the early hours of Thursday morning, 23-year-old actress Sanusha Santosh stood up to a man who she says tried to molest her on a train and held on to the accused till help finally arrived. But what saddened her, even more, was by how others around her behaved and took no notice of her misery.
The incident happened on the two-tier air-conditioned coach of the Maveli Express that runs between Mangaluru Central and Thiruvananthapuram.
Sanusha Santosh, told NDTV that she was shocked to have opened her eyes and found a man rubbing his hand against her lips. Ms Santosh had boarded the train at Kannur; had an upper berth and was sleeping.
“At around 1 am when I was asleep I felt something on my lips. When I woke up I saw that man in the opposite berth was feeling my lips. I immediately caught hold of his hand and twisted it. At this time he was begging me to not make this a big issue. I switched on the light immediately,” said Sanusha
Sanusha has alleged that while her friends and Co passengers, scriptwriter Unni R and one Ranjith supported her, the rest of the passengers did not. “Only two passengers writer Unni and one Ranjith came to my help. There were many people, including women in the compartment, but no one came forward to help. I was screaming…It’s sad how the others behaved,” said Sanusha.
Sanusha said she wanted others to take heart from her example in such situations and fight it out. “I want to reveal myself and speak up because I want this to be an encouragement to other women to act when they are in such situations,” the actress said.
The Thrissur railway police have arrested accused Anto Bose under section 354 IPC for outraging the modesty of a woman.