Veena, a passenger aboard the Palaruvi Express, said she became suspicious after noticing a man allegedly behaving inappropriately towards the five-and-a-half year-old girl travelling with her family and alerted fellow passengers and police.

Speaking to the media on Sunday, Veena said the accused, identified as Sanish (40), a native of Kollam, had initially disturbed her while she was asleep in the general compartment. “He first touched my leg. I thought it was accidental and moved away. But when it happened repeatedly, I questioned him angrily,” she said. Unable to sleep afterwards, Veena said she stayed awake watching videos on her phone when she noticed the man carrying the child, who had been sleeping on the floor beside her grandfather, onto his lap along with a bedsheet.

“At first, I thought the girl was his daughter. But when I asked another passenger, he told me the man had boarded the train from Kollam and was not related to her. I became suspicious and kept watching them,” she said.

Veena alleged that the man then covered himself and the girl completely with a bedsheet and began touching her while pretending to put her to sleep. “I started recording a video because his behaviour looked unusual. Through the video, I could see his hand moving over her body beneath the bedsheet,” she alleged.

She said she immediately confronted the accused, who denied wrongdoing and shouted back, waking up other passengers. “I showed the video to the others and informed them about what had happened. We then alerted the railway police,” she said.

The incident allegedly occurred around 1.30 am on May 7 while the train was travelling through the Thenmala railway section in Kerala. The girl, a native of Tenkasi in Tamil Nadu, was travelling with around 30 family members after visiting the Edathua Church pilgrimage centre.

According to the Punalur Railway Police, passengers detained Sanish and handed him over to police at Sengottai after the train crossed into Tamil Nadu.

Police said the girl’s family was initially reluctant to file a complaint and returned home, following which the accused was released. However, after reviewing the video footage recorded by Veena and verifying the location of the incident, police launched an investigation.

A woman police officer later travelled to Tenkasi and persuaded the family to file a complaint. Using CCTV footage and other evidence, police traced Sanish and took him into custody from Kollam later that day. A court in Punalur on Saturday remanded Sanish to 14 days’ judicial custody. He has been lodged in the Kottarakkara Sub Jail.