My traumatizing train journey - I pray that no woman has to experience what I went through on that train.

I’ve never shared this with anyone except my best friend—not even my family.

I was going on a trip to Kerala from my College on a train with my college mates.

I was going on a trip to Kerala from my college, traveling on a train with my classmates. It was a 2-day journey. On the 1st morning, when I woke up and climbed down from my berth (it was a middle berth among the 3), I realized that a huge group of army men had boarded the train. They were apparently heading home on vacation, and all the side-single upper and lower seats were allotted to them. When I got down, I couldn’t reach my bag, which was on the uppermost berth, so I asked one of the army men to help me. He handed it over. My friends and I spoke to them for a minute, and then I left to brush my teeth. There was an army man among them who was tall, huge who followed me to the wash basin. I didn't care much. When I was brushing and washing my face - he started talking to me asking all sorts of questions about our trip and he was telling me that kerala is his hometown. Later I returned to my seat. After some time it was lunch, I ate with my friends and post that I went to washroom area with my friend. She went to washroom and I was waiting for her outside the washroom.

That same army man came up to me again. This time, he seemed drunk. He walked straight up to me and said, “I want to talk to you.” My heart started pounding so hard I could feel it in my throat. I tried to stay calm and replied, “Okay, let’s go to our seats and talk.” But then he said, “Not there! I want to spend time with you privately,” pointing at the washroom. My heart just dropped. In that instant, every nerve in my body screamed that something bad could happen to me. I started pleading, “Please leave me alone, please leave me alone…”. But he kept insisting, over and over - “Please… please… I beg you… only for some time… I beg you… I beg you…”

That last “I BEG YOU” sounded so demanding, so threatening, that I felt a cold wave of panic. Just then, my friend came out of the washroom, and I quickly walked away with her. I was so scared I gathered all my belongings and rushed to the next coach, where one of my friends had a seat. I exchanged my seat with him and climbed up to his berth. I wrapped myself completely in my blanket, shivering and imagining all the things he could have done to me if I hadn’t left in time. A little while later, I got a call from my friend telling me that this man had gone missing and his friends were searching for him. My whole body was trembling. All I could think was, “What if he’s looking for me? What if he finds me here? What is he going to do to me?” I didn’t come out from under that blanket for hours—not even for a second. I was too terrified.

Later that night, my friends called me back to the other coach to play UNO. I kept refusing because I was scared of running into him again. One of my guy friends mocked me insensitively, saying, “Do you think you’re so beautiful that people will be after you all the time?”

I somehow gathered a bit of courage and went back to sit with them. But right after I sat down, that man returned and sat near us. He and his friends kept staring at me in such a creepy, predatory way. I can’t describe how uncomfortable and anxious I felt.

I couldn’t go back to the other coach anymore because I was afraid he would follow me and find out where I was hiding. I waited until they all started having dinner, and then I rushed back as quickly as I could, climbed into my berth again, and wrapped myself up in the blanket.

My friend kept updating me that he was drunk again and searching for me. I spent the entire night shivering, tense, and praying nothing worse would happen. I barely breathed until we reached our destination the next morning.

I wish no girl ever has to experience such an uncomfortable, terrifying train journey—or anything worse—ever in her life.