The victim Michelle Marks (left) and the sketch of the accused
According to the description given by the victim, the police have also prepared a sketch of the lean, 5 foot 8 inch-tall youth.
The Government Railway Police (GRP) on Monday formed "several" teams to identify and find the man who mugged an American woman aboard a Borivali-bound train. They also made public a sketch of the attacker, who is believed to be in his twenties.
The efforts came a day after 25-year-old Michelle Marks was targeted in a ladies compartment of the train at Marine Lines, raising serious doubts about railway authorities' claims of ensuring a safe commute for women.
The mugger snatched her bag and also tried to take her smartphone. When she attempted to fight back, he slashed her on the neck and cheek before fleeing with both the articles at Charni Road station.
Marks, who works for an NGO, was returning to her Goregaon home from a prayer meet at the Bombay Baptist Church, Colaba, around 4.45 pm and was apparently the only female passenger in the compartment.
She was treated at Nair hospital and discharged later in the evening.
According to the description the US national has provided to the railway police, the man is lean, 5 foot 8 inches tall and has a wheatish complexion. He was wearing a pair of brown trousers and a black T-shirt.
While officials earlier said that the suspect got on the Borivali-bound train at Marine Lines, Marks has said in her statement that she is not sure if he boarded the ladies compartment or was also already there.
"We have set up several teams to find the suspect," said Assistant Commissioner of Police (GRP) Pradip Bijwe. "We have questioned over 30 people, including history-sheeters and drug addicts, in connection with the incident."
There is no CCTV footage of the man boarding or getting off the train, which has made the railway police's job difficult. Activists and commuters have long been demanding installation of cameras at stations and realtime monitoring of the footage.
"We have prepared a sketch of the attacker and circulated its copies at railway stations. We will nab him soon," Bijwe said. GRP officials further said that they didn't have adequate staff to deploy on every train.
"The RPF is supposed to look after security on trains, but it seems they are not doing their job properly. Drug addicts and petty criminals get into trains," a GRP official said.
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