New Delhi, Nov. 26: If you can’t stop them, slap them.

In train after Delhi Metro train today, a whack from the women commuters awaited any male passenger who, as in other days, pushed his way into the ladies’ compartment.

The shock and the shame prompted most to quickly get off. The ones who wouldn’t give up were dragged to the platform and forced to do squats in full public view while the women inside the compartment held the train up. “These men were let off only after they promised not to even look at the reserved compartment next time,” a Metro official said.

“It was good to see the women take such a bold step. The slap message was loud and clear. The results already showed later in the day.”

Sonia Singh, who takes the Metro every day, said: “Men will now think twice before entering the women’s compartment. Women have been repeatedly asking the platform police to act, but nobody was bothered.”

Today, the women’s patience gave away. After the male intruders received smacks on the cheek on one train, the news spread and encouraged women passengers on several other trains to follow the example.

The women’s self-help campaign was in full flow this morning at south Delhi’s Hauz Khas station and on the Gurgaon stretch. Officials said men were slapped in at least four stations.

“The slap campaign should continue till the problems are addressed,” a woman passenger told The Telegraph.

With complaints of sexual harassment in the Metro mounting, the authorities had introduced a women-only coach in every train a month and a half ago. But that led to a rise in harassment.

Some men, mostly youths, targeted these reserved compartments despite a Rs 200 fine for unauthorised entry and constant announcements at the stations not to break the rules.

“We employed private security guards on the platforms, but it didn’t help,” the Metro official said. “Sometimes, the men would climb into a general coach and then make their way to the ladies’ compartment through the vestibule.”

Even the policemen on the platforms were at the receiving end of sharp words from the women today.

After being taken aback initially by the display of women power, an embarrassed police force belatedly swung into action and arrested two youths from Hauz Khas station for travelling in the women’s compartment.

Asked why the women had to take the law into their own hands today, Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat refused comment.

A senior police officer said the Metro had changed the way women travelled in Delhi and made them more assertive. “It’s safer and faster, and the women-only compartment spares them from having to compete with male passengers for seats. But what they did today was remarkable; they made their presence felt with a bang,” he said.