Woman says man groped her on crowded bus in Haarlem

Marian Woltman says a man sexually harassed and touched her on bus line 3 from Haarlem to IJmuiden on October 19.

She was travelling with her father after they had been told at a Haarlem hospital that he had Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia.

Woltman says the man had bothered other female passengers before sitting beside her and making sexual remarks.

She says he put a hand on her thigh, and she shouted at him to stop; he left the bus at Gedempte Oude Gracht.

Woltman says no one intervened while the man was on the bus, though passengers comforted her after he got off.

Connexxion says it took the complaint seriously and reviewed and secured the bus camera footage, which showed the man approaching female passengers but did not provide a full account of what happened.

The company says it cannot explain from the footage why the driver did not press the emergency button, and notes that drivers are trained to respond to risks but are not law enforcement officers.