Teenage student pushed out of moving train

The incident occurred after 18-year-old Shweta Mahadik confronted a male commuter for travelling in the coach reserved exclusively for women

NAVI MUMBAI: When 18-year-old Shweta Mahadik left for college on Thursday, she had no inkling that the routine commute would turn into a nightmare. Shweta was pushed out of a moving local train, a morning she’ll never forget.

Teenage student pushed out of moving train

The incident occurred after Shweta confronted a male commuter for travelling in the coach reserved exclusively for women. The man, nabbed at Khandeshwar railway station after commuters alerted the Government Railway Police (GRP), has been identified as Sheikh Akhtar Nawaz. Police say he is likely a homeless man.

Nawaz has been arrested and charged under Section 109 (attempt to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and Sections 162 and 138 of the Indian Railways Act.

Police said the incident took place at around 8am on Thursday. Shweta, a third-year civil engineering student at a Kharghar engineering institute, was travelling with a friend to college. After buying tickets for Kharghar, the two girls boarded a Panvel-CSMT local from platform number 3 at Panvel station.

They were standing near the door of the ladies’ coach, when a man, around 50 years old, entered the compartment, triggering objections from women commuters. When told to alight, an argument broke out. Moments after the train started pulling out of the station, the man allegedly approached Shweta from behind and pushed her out of the moving train.

Shweta fell onto the railway tracks and sustained injuries to her head, waist and hand, police said. Railway workers rushed to her aid after hearing her calls for help. Women commuters helped her reach a nearby location on a two-wheeler, where she contacted her father, an autorickshaw driver.

“I was at home when I received the call from Shweta. It was very scary to hear my daughter weep, saying she had fallen from a train. I rushed across in my auto to pick her up. I felt a sense of relief only after I saw her walking,” recalls Sanjay Mahadik.

Sanjay says his daughter was in shock and couldn’t say what had led to her fall. It was her friend who was with her in the compartment who later said that a mentally unstable man had pushed her,” he said.

Shweta, still shaken from the incident, was first taken to the sub-district hospital in Panvel, where doctors took X-rays. As a CT scan facility was unavailable, she was referred to MGM Hospital in Kalamboli.

After medical care, Shweta and her father approached the Panvel Railway Police Station, where she lodged a complaint, stating that the accused had intentionally pushed her out of the moving train, with intent to kill her.

Preliminary investigation suggests that Nawaz may be mentally unstable, which may have prompted him to push Shweta out of the train. A local court has remanded him to three days’ police custody.