Day before SSC exam, teen falls off train in Mumbai, dies

The police said the train Chavhan took from Badlapur was not crowded

A 15-year-old girl died after falling off a local train near Badlapur on Monday, a day before she was to write her SSC board exams. Pragati Chavhan, a student of Shrikrishna Khamkhar Badlapur Vidyalaya, was on her way to her coaching class, the police said. She died in a Kalyan hospital a few hours later.

The police said the train Chavhan took from Badlapur was not crowded. “She may have lost her balance while standing on the footboard,” said a government railway police officer, not wishing to be named.

Chavhan’s brother Pratik, however, said she never took the train for class. “The coaching classes are in Badlapur itself. She always walked to her classes.” The police are probing why Chavhan took the train.

Chavhan had boarded a 3.15pm local. She fell between Badlapur and Vangni stations.

“My sister was still alive when we reached the spot. She was lying on the tracks, severely injured,” said Pratik, and added the railways did not act swiftly to take her to the hospital. “There was no ambulance. My sister was alive when we found her. She would have survived if help reached us faster,” he said.

The family first took Chavhan to a nearby hospital, which refused to admit her. They took her to a private hospital in Kalyan, but she had to be shifted again. “The first hospital in Kalyan wanted us to deposit Rs50,000 for further treatment. As we could not afford it, we shifted her,” said Pratik.

“She was a bright student. She didn’t want to go for class that day. After much persuasion, she agreed and left home around 2.40pm. She was not angry. The next thing we know, my father gets a call from the police saying she had met with an accident,” Pratik said.