08 February,2015 04:13 AM IST | | Shrikant Khuperkar and Sadaguru Pandit
18-year-old woman who jumped in front of an incoming train at Badlapur station survived, a 37-year-old man who made a similar attempt at Dombivli station succumbed to injuries
Manish Salve
Central Railways witnessed two cases of attempted suicides on Saturday - while an 18-year-old woman who jumped in front of an incoming train at Badlapur station survived, a 37-year-old man who made a similar attempt at Dombivli station succumbed to injuries.
The body of Manish Salve being removed from the tracks. Pic/ Shrikant Khuperkar
While Manish Savla, an ex-call center employee, who jumped in front of an incoming train at Dombivli station succumbed to his injuries, passengers present at Badlapur station, from where Sailee Tawde jumped onto the tracks, were prompt enough to rescue her and rushed her to the hospital.
Deadly plunge
The first incident occured around 8.30 am while the Ambarnath-CST A18 UP local was entering the platform. According to the Government Railway Police (GRP) officials, Savla jumped in front of the train and although the motorman tried to pull his brakes, he was run over.
mid-day lensman, Shrikant Khuperkar, who was present when the tragedy unfolded, said that it caused panic among the passengers. "I was at the ticket counter when I heard people screaming and running. When I reached the spot, I saw that the train was still moving and the man, still alive, was lying on the tracks with his right leg twisted upwards," Khuperkar recalled. Although the GRP officials rushed to the spot almost immediately, and took the man to the nearby Shastrinagar Hospital, they could not save him.
Rajashree Sarode, police inspector, GRP Dombivli Police Station, said that Savla was run over by the train and had absolutely no chance of survival. "Our officials took him to Shastrinagar Hospital. However he died en-route," said Sarode.
While the eyewitnesses informed our lensman that the man had clearly jumped in front of the train, GRP officials have reported the incident as accidental death. Nilesh, the brother of the deceased, said: "He had lost his job around five months ago and was staying with us ever since. There was no fight or altercation of any kind. We have no clue what made him take such an extreme step."
The Badlapur incident
The other incident took place an hour later at around 9.43 am at Badlapur platform while the Karjat-CST UP train was entering the platform. Sagar Patil (22) an eyewitness said: "She saw the train coming and jumped onto the tracks. The train was relatively slow as some work on tracks is going on. But the impact was still dangerous. For a moment I even contemplated jumping on the tracks and pushing her away but it was too late and the train ran over her," said Patil.
The motorman this time was quick to apply the brakes. People were surprised to see the girl get away from the impact with minimum injuries. According to the stationmaster PK Lal, passengers present on the platform dragged the woman from under the compartment and rushed her to the nearby Rathod Hospital from where she was later shifted to Dhanwantari Hospital by her family.
Great escape
Doctors who attended to Tawde said that she has sustained minor cuts on her head, displaced her jaw and has sprained her back as well as her leg. Tawde's mother Smita said: "We had a minor tiff in the morning and later I came to know about the incident. She is the head girl of Fatima High School and a bright student. I don't know what went wrong and why she took such a drastic step."
