On 4th November 2023, a 43-year-old Indian-origin man was sentenced to nine months in prison in the United Kingdom after being caught masturbating on the London Underground train in front of an alone woman in the carriage.
Mukesh Shah, from Wembley in North London, was found guilty of inappropriate exposure at London Inner Crown Court last month and ordered to sign the sex offenders register for 10 years. The British Transport Police (BTP) said the accused will be subjected to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order over the incident, which occurred during a tube journey.
This was a frightening and upsetting experience for the victim and I commend her bravery in confronting the the offender, managing to capture an image of Shah and reporting this,” said BTP Investigating Officer, Detective Constable Mark Luker.
Shah’s disgusting actions have not only secured him time behind bars but restrictions following his release to prevent him from repeating his actions in the future. We will always take reports of sexual offences seriously and will do everything in our power to bring offenders to justice,” he said.
“Despite the empty carriage, Shah sat diagonally opposite the victim and she noticed him staring at her, making her feel uncomfortable. It was then that she noticed he was exposing himself and masturbating,” BTP said in a statement.
Bravely the victim captured the offender Shah on camera hoping that he would stop but he did not, the victim confronted him and told him to cease and move away from her. The accused protested of not doing anything wrong but moved along the carriage. The victim reported the incident to BTP along with the video, which was circulated by the police and led to the identification of the man as Shah.
The UK capital’s transport police are also raising awareness about its Railway Guardian App or the emergency number 999 for passengers to report crimes such as these.
