After a video of a cop pouring water on sleeping passengers at Pune station went viral on Friday, the railway responded by saying that the incident is “deeply regretted” and noted that the way in which the situation was handled by the security personnel was not suitable.
The 17-second clip shows a policeman walking slowly with a water bottle behind sleeping travellers. A young man wakes up from his sleep after the cop pours water on him. Similarly, others including an elderly man, get up abruptly after the water falls on them.
Taking cognisance of the incident, termed as “inhuman” by Twitter users, the divisional railway manager (DRM) Pune Indu Dubey issued a statement.
“Sleeping on the Platform causes inconvenience to others however the way it was handled is not a suitable way of counseling passengers. Concerned staff has been suitably advised to deal with passengers with dignity, politeness & decency. This incident is deeply regretted,” Dubey said.
The video has been viewed over 3.2 million times at the writing of this report with nearly 4,000 retweets. Many Twitter users flagged the lack of infrastructure facilities at platforms for the passengers to wait. Trains running late were also pointed out in the comments.
“The RPF intent is Acceptable. But the way how they treated sleeping people is not @AshwiniVaishnaw I hope strict action is taken against that officer,” commented one.
“Government should create more waiting areas so they don’t have to sleep on the platforms and yes the trains need to be on time,” replied another.
While many people were distressed by the railway policeman’s action, some supported the man “on duty” and found nothing wrong in the act.
“They should not be sleeping there in the first place … we people take things for granted …. Waiting rooms are there at Pune railway station platform no 1 … people can wait there … civic sense needs to be imbibed…” read a reply.
“Seems a very mild way to enforce the rule or law not to sleep on the platform to me. It’s more like a reminder,” said someone else.
