A woman living in Dublin says she has been left traumatised after being set upon by a group of teenage girls on the Luas.
The incident unfolded when she got on the Green Line Luas at Sandyford heading in the direction of O'Connell Street on Tuesday evening.
Aanchal Mohtra, 26, says she was on her way home when she was both physically and verbally assaulted by three girls.
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Speaking to Dublin Live, she told how the horrific incident has left her shaken.
She said: "I got on the Green Line Luas at Sandyford and I was sitting on one of the four seats that face each other. The seats were vacant when I got on but then three girls walked up to me and sat on the remaining seats.
"They were chatting to each other while having popcorn and drinking coke. I was mostly engrossed in my phone and then after five minutes, one of the girls suddenly kicked me."
Aanchal said the girls screamed at her to 'get out'.
She continued: "At first, I thought I misheard her so I asked her what she said and she kicked me again and said, ‘Get out!’ I told her to f*** off and then they got really aggressive. Then they started verbally abusing me. The girl who was sitting beside me started hitting me with her elbow. The other two started kicking me."
The teenagers then threw their popcorn and drink in her hair and eyes while calling her a "b****".
She said the Luas was full of people but nobody apart from one woman stood up at the teenagers.
"One lady told the girls to stop it but they yelled back to her and shut her up," she said.
Terrified, she told how she then tried to move away, but was blocked by one of the girls while the other kicked her from behind and snatched her bag.
"One of the girls ran ahead to block my way. They kept kicking me and tried to trip me over. It was a nightmare for me. I was frozen with fear. I couldn't do anything. When I told them I was going to call the gardai they said, ‘You f****** b****, call whoever you want. Nothing’s going to happen.’
"They knew nothing would happen to them if I called the gardai. They knew nobody was going to stop them," she claimed.
When the tram reached Aanchal's stop on O'Connell Street, she said the girls tried to push her out of the door.
"I nearly tripped the moment the doors opened. The girls were yelling at me from the windows as well. My legs hurt because they kicked me with full force. I called my husband and told him everything. I was in agony and I was crying a lot," she said.
Aanchal, who moved to Ireland from India in 2020, said she has never experienced anything like this before.
"I used to live in Athlone before I moved to Dublin and I never felt unsafe even though I used to work night shifts," she said.
Aanchal and her husband, Aditya, have launched a petition calling for stricter laws around minors committing crimes in Ireland.
Aditya, who was also the victim of a horrific attack back in 2019 that left him in hospital, told Dublin Live: "I've been living in Ireland since 2015 and 2019 was the fourth or fifth incident that happened which got so ugly.
"My friend and I were walking on Ha'Penny Bridge after a party when we were stopped by a group of teenagers. They took my friend's watch and tried to snatch my wallet and phone.
"I didn’t back down and got my wallet and phone back from them. But in that process, they injured me." Aditya was brutally assaulted and had to be taken to hospital. Aditya, 30, was left with horrific injuries to his face.
He said: "I didn’t tell my parents. I stopped doing video calls with them because I knew if they saw me like that they would have asked me to come back.
"I told myself these things will keep happening until and unless there are amendments to the law. These teenagers are so brutal. They are capable of doing anything. There has to be a strong law."
Under Section 52 of the Children Act 2001 as amended by Section 129 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, children who have not reached the age of 12 years cannot be charged with an offence. There is an exception, however, for children aged 10 or 11 who can be charged with murder, manslaughter, rape or aggravated sexual assault. In addition, where a child under 14 years of age is charged with an offence, no further proceedings can be taken without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
Dublin Live has contacted the gardai and Luas operators, Transdev, for a comment.
You can sign Aditya's petition here
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