A tweet thread of a 25 year old woman who got sexually assaulted while she was on her way to work in a local train, explained how traumatic the process of filing complaint to Police about the molestation was. Despite being privileged enough to afford a leave to file an FIR with the Police, the woman was not given the space to feel safe and comfortable. The incident happened in Mumbai and the tweet thread did numbers as a result of which she got a call from the station and things got sorted out for her. But could every ordeal of a victim will go viral to make the cops do their job in a right way ??

“I was sexually assaulted today on my way to work in the local train. While I will be pursuing requisite action against the people I mention in this thread. my sole purpose of writing this is a humble request to the @mumbaipolice to sensitise your force and make them aware and accountable for their own duties especially for such sensitive incidents” she started her tweet thread.

my sole purpose of writing this is a humble request to the @mumbaipolice to sensitise your force and make them aware and accountable for their own duties especially for such sensitive incidents. (2/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

“Upon reaching the Andheri Railway Police station, I was visibly distressed and crying. As I spoke to the police incharge and told them I was molested and I’d be comfortable speaking about it to a female cop, the first question he asked me was “Molestation kya hota hai”. After explaining to the police woman about the details of my complaint, her first question to me was if my boyfriend did that to me. How does it matter?” she asked.

After explaining to the police woman about the details of my complaint, her first question to me was if my boyfriend did that to me. How does it matter? (4/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

“After her going back to her senior and whispering the details to him I heard the male cop say “AREY BAAPRE KAAM ALA” (oh god this is going to be a lot of work). As I was sitting there crying, waiting for someone to direct me further the 2-3 female cops chatted among themselves about how bad it must have felt to be in my position. All this while I was sitting right there & this was happening in front of everyone at this police station” she further said through her tweet.

Further she wrote “While I identified the perpetrator on the cctv footage at around 11:30 am, one of the police women kept telling me “Arey maarna tha na usko aap toh advocate ho, maara kyu nahi” (you should have hit him since you’re a lawyer, why didn’t you hit him). This above statement makes it so clear that we are responsible for our own safety, because when we go to complain and put our trust in the system we’re told that we could have solved it better by taking matters in our own hands” through her tweet.

As I was sitting there crying, waiting for someone to direct me further the 2-3 female cops chatted among themselves about how bad it must have felt to be in my position.All this while I was sitting right there & this was happening in front of everyone at this police station(6/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

The Police women also thought of making the victim tell about her ordeal in the main Police station and settled for a separate small after she told about her inconvenience. The cops made her narrate the horrendous experience of getting molested 3-4 times and she managed to get the copy of her complaint only after getting so many advise and schoolings from the cops.

Somehow it was my fault that I didn’t hit him back. I still don’t understand the correlation of physical strength and being an advocate. If anyone has an insight on the same, I’d like to be enlightened. (8/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

“hearing how I should have hit him and tackled this better, and that I should be thankful I was in my “covered” formal attire, being told to give my statement in the middle of the police station when a separate room was clearly available, being told that since he wasn’t my bf or someone I knew I was a “nice girl” and I didn’t do anything wrong to be upset, I finally got a copy of my statement” she said.

After that, the victim received call from another police station which comes under the jurisdiction of the incident happened and was asked again to explain the whole incident and identify the accused. “I have to go back and relive the most traumatic day of my life again because the andheri railway police didn’t forward the details of the exact person who did this to me” she said.

Further, I was initially told to go into a smaller separate room for me to comfortably give my statement. (10/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

“Today scares me. I’m a privileged woman living close to South Bombay. I take a packed local at peak morning hours to reach my workplace. I’m educated and financially independent. Being an advocate helps because I know the exact ambit of the duties of the police. I wasn’t offered water upon reaching the police station, I wasn’t told about next steps. I was told to go to the cctv room with 2 male cops (not in uniform)& a female cop accompanied when I insisted that a female cop should accompany me to a place outside the police station” her tweets read.

I insisted that I was not comfortable narrating my horrendous experience in the middle of the entire police station, which is when she finally took my statement in that separate room. (12/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

hearing how I should have hit him and tackled this better, and that I should be thankful I was in my “covered” formal attire, being told to give my statement in the middle of the police station when a separate room was clearly available, (14/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

After the above-mentioned I was told that the platform where I was assaulted was actually under borivali jurisdiction and that the entire information would be forwarded to them. (16/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

“While I have the privilege to take a day off to calm myself down and try to change my mode of daily commute, the way our police handles these situations is absolutely heartbreaking” she said and went on to add “If I didn’t know my right to ask a female cop to accompany me, if I was younger, from a minority, from a weaker economic background, someone who wasn’t aware of those rights and someone who couldn’t take the day off to just file an FIR, my situation would be much worse”

I have to go back and relive the most traumatic day of my life again because the andheri railway police didn’t forward the details of the exact person who did this to me. (18/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

“someone assaulted me in broad daylight and the process to file a complaint against it was equally traumatic” she expressed. “Talking to friends has shaken me to my core because every woman I know has a similar story of being molested in public transport. What is shameful is that they didn’t report it because they were sure the process to report an incident like this would traumatize them further” she further said.

I wasn’t offered water upon reaching the police station, I wasn’t told about next steps. I was told to go to the cctv room with 2 male cops (not in uniform)& a female cop accompanied when I insisted that a female cop should accompany me to a place outside the police station(20/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

If I didn’t know my right to ask a female cop to accompany me, if I was younger, from a minority, from a weaker economic background, someone who wasn’t aware of those rights and someone who couldn’t take the day off to just file an FIR, my situation would be much worse. (22/n)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

Talking to friends has shaken me to my core because every woman I know has a similar story of being molested in public transport. What is shameful is that they didnt report it because they were sure the process to report an incident like this would traumatize them further(23/23)

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 21, 2022

After the tweet did numbers, the victim received a call from borivali police station and was requested her not to re-identify the perpetrator as the andheri police had forwarded them. She thanked everyone who reached upon her and shared her tweets and also promised to update anything about the case in the tweet thread.

To everyone who’s reached out, to everyone who’s retweeted this thread, thank you so much. I will keep updating this thread incase of any further updates.

— 🌻 (@The__Sunflower_) September 22, 2022