Uncle blames self for his nephew’s death, dies by suicide

A 25-year-old man committed suicide by jumping in front of a train due to guilt over his nephew's death in a pit. Two arrested for negligence.

A 25-year-old man killed himself by jumping in front of a running train between Mankhurd and Chembur stations as he felt guilty for the death of his six-year-old nephew, who fell into a nine-feet-deep open pit outside the Mankhurd railway station, said police sources.

Police said the man appeared to have died by suicide by jumping on the railway track hours after committing the crime. (Representative Image)

The Vashi Government Railway Police (GRP) are currently investigating the case and have registered an accidental death report in the matter. GRP officers said that the man felt guilty after his nephew’s death, who was demanding a mobile phone from him, but he was unable to provide him due to his unemployment. He thought as he could not give him a phone to his nephew, he went to play and drowned in a nine-feet pit dug by Mumbai Rail Vikas Corporation (MRVC).

The Vashi GRP officials arrested two people - Karthik Samantha, an engineer and Deepesh Mhatre, a supervisor for leaving the pit open without any signboards, due to which the boy died.

The incident occurred on Sunday afternoon when the boy, a resident of Mahatma Phule Nagar, fell in the pit dug by MRVC for some construction work. “A passenger saw that the child had fallen in the pit and helped him out. He was rushed to the hospital where he was declared dead.” said a police officer from Vashi GRP. The Vashi GRP meanwhile arrested Samantha, and engineer Mhatre a supervisor in the case.

“We were informed about a man jumping under the train between Mankhurd and Chembur stations around 7 pm on Sunday. When we spoke to the family, the deceased’s mother told us since the boy’s death, her son started feeling guilty for his death,” said Sambhaji Katare, senior police inspector of Vashi GRP.

The boy had been staying with them since he was six months old and was demanding a mobile phone. However, Shailesh could not provide it as presently he was jobless, and so he was responsible for the boy’s death as he went to play outside and died, said Katare.

The boy’s parents left him with them when he was six months old, and since then he has been living with them. The mother works as a house helper for a living. The residents alleged that there was negligence on the part of the contractor, which led to the death of the boy and also his uncle.