IT Correspondent
Mumbai, May 9:
The body of a 20-year-old woman hailing from Bihar, was found with a cloth tied around her neck in a washroom of a Swaraj Express train (No 12471-Mumbai-Vaishnodevi Katra, Jammu), on Sunday afternoon.
The train began its journey at 11 am from Bandra terminus in Mumbai. The woman went to the washroom after the train travelled past Borivali station. Since she did not return to her seat for a long time, at about 12.35 pm, the passengers of the S4 coach alerted the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE). The TTE and the passengers banged the door of the washroom but there was no response.
There was a stir among the railway officials. After that, the train was given a special halt at around 1.10 pm, at the Dahanu Road railway station (in Palghar district in Maharashtra). The train staff opened the latch of the toilet door and found the woman lying motionless on the floor with a cloth tied around her neck.
She was rushed to Cottage Hospital in Dahanu Road where doctors declared her dead before admission. A case of Accidental Death Report (ADR) has been registered and the post-mortem examination report is awaited. Based on her Aadhaar card found on her, she was identified as Aarti Kumari, daughter of Mithilesh Mandal, resident of Margujan Nipaniya Purniya, Bihar, a Western Railway CPRO Sumit Thakur said.
The train was delayed for an hour and proceeded on its onward journey to Vaishno Devi Katra around 2.30 pm, the Government Railway Police said adding that the CCTV footage of all stations where the train halted after starting from Bandra Terminus is being checked.
While the police have maintained that it is not clear whether it was a suicide, murder, or accident and whether the deceased was travelling alone or with someone else, the Western Railway said that the deceased was unaccompanied.