Shocked that no one helped the girl on the train

[Ohhh1]

14 year old SA in trained

I am being unreasonable in think people need to stop being so absorbed on their phones whilst out in public. It seems no one helpped this child whilst she was being raped because they were too busy on their phones.

The rape happened in the train toilets. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for people not to have been aware of it.

Even if someone had had a go, who do you think the police would be pursuing?

This country is finished.

It's alleged to have happened in the toilets so the attack wouldn't have had witnesses.

All the other passengers would have seen was a girl walking along the train aisle; they wouldn't have known she was going to the toilets with her potential rapist. They also may not have known she was 14 and wouldn't have had any reason to suspect she was vulnerable.

The story suggests - and I'm not blaming the girl at all here, but obviously the other passengers would only be going by what they actually saw happening - that she had been chatting with the men in question and got up and went with them. She wasn't dragged off kicking and screaming and presumably didn't outwardly appear in distress (again, not her fault - that's not uncommon for people who are victims of that kind of assault) so I'm not sure what you'd expect other passengers to do. From their perspective, it's pretty likely that they would have seen what they believed to be a young woman chatting voluntarily to a couple of people and then getting up and walking off with them, again voluntarily.

The victim in a case like that isn't to blame but neither are the other passengers. It's not like they witnessed any assault happening and they didn't know that what they did see wasn't a normal interaction.

I'm not sure why we are focusing on the passengers and not the rapists.

Do you think it's the government's fault when white British men rape kids, too?

Because that happens a great deal more often than kids being raped by refugees. There will be hundreds more sex crimes committed by white British men than by Afghan refugees.

The Daily Mail wouldn't even bother reporting this case if the defendants were British, and if they did, they'd totally be blaming the victim. They only give a shit about women and girls when it gives them a chance to stir up racist reactions.

Your OP makes it sound as if she were raped in front of them and they were too absorbed in their phones to notice. That’s not actually the case though, is it?

Were you there? The defendant said that people were too busy on their phones to notice what was happening.

I was very clear about what I think.

If those men were denied entry to the country, this girl would not have been raped in that train toilet.

If people on a train blanked and ignored and carried on reading a news article, shrugged and continued bobbing their heads to music on the train, whilst that happened then they all need to be arrested

I have twice witness teens get sexually assaulted on a train

• the first was very MC male bankers assaulting a teenage girl after they got on at Canary wharf tube
• the second was an oldish quite frail man

Both times I was the only person to do anything. Everyone else in the busy commuter carriage just tried to pretend it wasn't happening.

Reading comprehension is dead.

None of us were there. No one commenting here was in court to hear the full evidence either. The DM has this bit of reporting:

"The victim's police interview was played in Inner London Crown Court, in which she was asked what the passengers on board the Southeastern service were doing.
She replied: 'No one was really looking at us. Everyone was just on their phones.'
Jurors were shown CCTV footage showing Rahimi brush past several commuters as he led the girl to a toilet cubicle"

So what commuters saw was three people walking past them. It's not unreasonable for people to be on their phones on a train journey and not to pay much attention to people walking past.

Rapists are to blame for rape. People being unaware that an assault is happening are not.

Is it the lack of attention that bothers you, or the reasons for said lack of attention? If people had not noticed because they were absorbed by classic novels or broadsheet newspapers would you feel similarly outraged?

Do you think it's the government's fault when white British men rape kids, too?

No we have far too many, but let not add any more to number.. shall we?

No, I wasn’t there. What makes you think I was?

My post responded to your comment that “no one helped this child while she was being raped because they were too busy on their phones.” But according to the article that you linked to, the rape happened in the train toilet. So unless all those passengers were on their phones in the train toilet as well at that moment, you’re painting a misleading picture of what is reported (in the article you linked to) to have happened.

I hope that that’s clear enough for you, but please do ask again if you need more information on either my whereabouts on the day in question or my reading ability.

So one of them sat her on his knee on the train and touched her and nobody said a thing?

So are you saying we should never have tourists in the country? or anyone coming here for work. delivery drivers are out in case they’re a rapist. No more planes because the crew might be foreign rapists. or cruises or anything. basically let’s just shove a 50 foot wall around the country and no one can come in and rape anyone.

The lack of attention bothers me. People just zoom in on their phones / books etc and like to zone out to anything that is remotely uncomfortable.

This is a 14 year old girl who was being led to the toilets but two much older men, ofcourse people should have noticed and said something

I'd notice someone brush past me - as I tend to be hyper aware of people around me but still doesn't mean I'd notice if the girl was in distress or that it would be clear to bystanders not really expecting that.

I assume it was not as packed as most train we seem to get where there a huge crowd in corridors and round toilets as there's no-where else to stand but seats seperating passengers in carriage away from toilet areas.

I and famliy members have swapped seats or standing locations on rare occaions when we've seen teen girls or young women by themselevs uncomfortable round other male passengers - but while everyone likes to imagine they'd have seen the signs correctly sometime things are not clear to by standers in real life.

Where you there?

This

Years ago, my mum was assaulted by teenage girls who were trying to hurt a young boy. Quite apart from getting hurt, people are also worried about being arrested for trying to help others.

Sure let’s not add any more

what else do you suggest we do

After reading the article, the questions that I would be wanting to know the answer to are nothing to do with what other passengers on the train should or shouldn't have noticed or done. I am much more concerned with the background as to why a vulnerable 14 year old autistic girl was apparently a "runaway" in the words of the DM, and travelling alone.

I also am concerned about what this girl has been taught (or not) about safeguarding herself as her words make it clear that she finds it hard to say no to men and didn't have any appropriate strategies to get help once she felt unsafe. So many things that clearly have gone wrong in this situation. None of which involve the other passengers.