‘Horrific’: Woman raped on Philadelphia train while bystanders did nothing, police say – National

A lady was raped by a stranger on a commuter prepare in suburban Philadelphia within the presence of different riders who a police official mentioned “ought to have achieved one thing.”

Superintendent Timothy Bernhardt of the Higher Darby Police Division mentioned officers had been referred to as to the 69th Avenue terminal round 10 p.m. Wednesday after the assault on the westbound prepare on the Market-Frankford Line.

An worker of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority who was within the neighborhood because the prepare went previous referred to as police to report that “one thing wasn’t proper” with a lady aboard the prepare, Bernhardt mentioned.

SEPTA police ready on the subsequent cease discovered the girl and arrested a person. The lady was taken to a hospital.

Bernhardt referred to as the sufferer an “unbelievably sturdy girl” who supplied police with a number of data. She didn’t know her attacker, he mentioned.

“She’s on the mend,” Bernhardt mentioned. “Hopefully she is going to get by way of this.”

Your entire episode was captured on surveillance video that confirmed different individuals on the prepare on the time, Bernhardt mentioned.

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“There was lots of people, for my part, that ought to have intervened; any person ought to have achieved one thing,” Bernhardt mentioned. “It speaks to the place we’re in society; I imply, who would permit one thing like that to happen? So it’s troubling.”

Fiston Ngoy, 35, has been charged with rape, aggravated indecent assault and associated counts, based on Delaware County court docket information. Bernhardt mentioned he’s recognized to each SEPTA and Higher Darby police.

Court docket paperwork don’t checklist a defence lawyer, and a listed quantity for him couldn’t be discovered Saturday.

SEPTA issued an announcement calling it a “horrendous felony act” and urging anybody witnessing such a factor to report it to authorities.

“There have been different individuals on the prepare who witnessed this horrific act, and it might have been stopped sooner if a rider referred to as 911,” the authority mentioned.