In a shocking incident, a drunk Travel Ticket Examiner (TTE) of the Indian Railways has allegedly urinated on a woman's head travelling on the Akal Takht Express on Sunday (March 12, 2023), ANI reported, quoting a Government Railway Police (GRP) official. The woman, who hails from Amritsar, was travelling with her husband Rajesh Kumar, from Amritsar to Kolkata, said the GRP official. As per the initial report, the incident happened on the Sunday midnight in the A1 coach of the Akal Takht Express which was going from Amritsar to Kolkata. The TTE was reported to be in a drunk condition and has been identified as Munna Kumar, a resident of Bihar.
The incident happened before the train reached Lucknow, and the passengers got hold of the drunk TTE after hearing the noise from the woman. The TTE was then handed over to the GRP when the train reached the Charbagh Railway station, Lucknow, on Monday (March 13, 2023). The TTE has been sent to judicial custody.
Zero tolerance. Removal from service with immediate effect. https://t.co/NPqUXFtVbY pic.twitter.com/nXRn9JpPUx
— Ashwini Vaishnaw (@AshwiniVaishnaw) March 14, 2023
Later, the TTE was sacked from his position with immediate effect, Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Tuesday, "Your above conduct showing disrespect to women construes serious misconduct, in the process bringing disrepute not only to your own self but entire railways as an organization. It is also seen that you are in judicial custody."
"Taking cognizance of this grave matter, I consider it to be a fit case to adopt the provision of Rule 14(ii). Thus, I hereby deem it fit to impose the punishment of "REMOVAL FROM SERVICE WITH IMMEDIATE EFFECT" for behaviour unbecoming of a railway servant," the order by the Northern Railway shared by the Minister on Twitter said.
The one-off incident from the Indian Railways has come at a time when multiple urination incidents have been reported on international flights. At least a couple of incidents have come to light in the recent months, where allegedly drunk passenger urinated on their co-passenger. In one such incident, a Mumbai-based Banker Shankar Mishra, urinated on an elderly woman while returning from New York in the Delhi bound Air India flight.
He was arrested months later and was recently granted bail. In another such incident, a student travelling on an American Airlines flight from New York to Delhi allegedly urinated on a co-flyer on the flight.
