Indian-origin man jailed for masturbating in front of woman on London train

A 43-year-old Indian-origin man has been sentenced to nine months in prison in the UK after being found guilty of masturbating on board a London Underground train in front of a lone woman in the carriage.

Mukesh Shah, from Wembley in north London, was found guilty of indecent 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 he will be subjected to a 10-year Sexual Harm Prevention Order over the incident, which occurred on November 4, 2022, during a tube journey.

“This was a frightening and upsetting experience for the victim and I commend her bravery in confronting 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.

The court heard how it was around 11.40 pm when the victim was travelling alone in an empty Piccadilly Line carriage between Sudbury Town and Acton Town when Shah boarded the train.

“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 Shah on camera hoping it would deter him, when he didn’t, she confronted him and told him to stop and move away from her. He protested he hadn’t done anything wrong but moved along the carriage. The victim reported the incident to BTP along with the video, which was circulated within the police and led to the identification of Shah,” it added.

The UK capital’s transport police are also flagging its Railway Guardian app or the emergency 999 number for passengers to report crimes such as these on the network.