Yesterday this young girl got on the overground train asking if it would stop at a certain station. Her tone of voice suggested that she was in a hurry. For some reason no one else on the carriage responded so I answered her, telling her that the train would indeed stop at the station she asked. She was in her High School uniform & she looked like she was in Year 7 or 8 so it seemed odd to me that she was on the train, especially since it was fairly late & her school should have ended hours ago. When the train started moving she almost fell because she wasnt holding onto anything or balancing herself - I could tell that she hadnt used the train before. Her facial expression & body language implied she was uneasy so I kept an eye on her. My thoughts were a mixture of curiosity & concern at that point. Throughout the journey she kept looking at her phone & I assumed she did so to check the time but when I eventually took off my headphones I recognized the Facebook Messenger apps notification sound continuously go off on her phone - someone was bombarding her with messages & her facial expressions in response to them worried me so I made sure my complete focus was on her for the rest of my journey. Anyway, after some time she lifted her head for the first time in a while & looked at the carriage beside us. There was a man staring back at her. Her eyes then kept darting between the man & her phone (same case with him) & I was almost certain then that he was the one messaging her. I moved closer to slyly pree her screen & read her messages & I learned that she had arranged to meet a stranger she came across on Facebook who turned out not to be the person he appeared to be. The messages were along the lines of why did you run from me?, after all the time we spoke, you traitor, give me another chance, I told you it would feel good etc. I wanted to call the police but I had to confirm my suspicions first. When she got off on her stop I quietly got off too. She literally ran as soon as she got off the train & I noticed the same man on the carriage beside ours start to walk really fast as though he were trying to keep up - his eyes were on her. I pulled him to the side & told him that I would perform a citizens arrest if he did not get back in the same train & when he did, I called the police & they arrested him a few stops ahead; apparently he invited her to a hotel & had condoms on him. I got the stations staff to wait with the girl with me until her parents came.. I wont bore you with the details but the man is being dealt with by the Police & the girl is fine - she & her parents thanked me a few minutes ago & reminded me of the incident so I thought I would share this story to get this message across; 1) PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR SURROUNDINGS, you could make the worlds difference, & 2) BE CAUTIOUS OF THE INTERNET. It is dangerous. Please look after each other & yourselves & apologies for any errors, I am exhausted & cba re-reading this.
Posted on: Fri, 03 Oct 2014 20:11:20 +0000