SSC exams: Teen leaves for coaching class, dies after falling from train

While lakhs of students appeared for their SSC examination yesterday, the family of Badlapur resident Pragati Chavan, demanded a thorough police investigation in her death. 15-year-old Pragati passed away after falling off a local train on Monday.

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She was going to her coaching institute to take last minute tips for her SSC exam. However, it was later found that she never went to the institute, which is located is near her residence. Instead, she was found injured on the railway tracks between Badlapur and Vangani stations.

A female cop observes an exam hall at the NKT college in Thane. Pic/Sameer Markande

A student of Khamkar School in Badlapur, Pragati was a bright child. She left her house on Monday at around 2 pm to go to her coaching institute - Creative Academy. The institute is close to her home.

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Around 30 minutes after she left, the Chavan family received a call, informing them of her body being found on the railway tracks between Badlapur and Vangani station.

Suffered blood loss
Shocked after knowing the news, the Chavans rushed to the spot. Pragati was immediately taken to Bhagawati Hospital. But due to a lot of traffic, she suffered major blood loss, which lead to brain damage.

"We were asked to take her to Fortis Hospital in Kalyan as Bhagawati Hospital was not equipped to handle her case. At Fortis, we were first asked to pay Rs 50,000 so that her treatment can begin. We could not afford it, so we shifted her to Meera Hospital in Kalyan, where she died during the treatment at around 8.45 pm on Monday," said Prateek Chavan, her brother.

"She was to appear for her SSC examination beginning on Tuesday. It was me who insisted her to go to her class to take last minute tips. She did not want to leave the house," he added.

The Chavan family is demanding a police investigation in the case because they are unable to understand what Pragati was doing in a train when the institute she was going to was near their home.

They also cannot believe that she would have fallen off the train, as the time of the incident was not the regular peak hours, when trains are crowded.

‘No way she was stressed'
Prateek added, "She was a bright student. She scored 87 per cent in Std IX. There was no way that she was stressed due to the board examination."

Prateek also mentioned that Pragati was upset because her friends were not talking to her since the past few days for reasons that he is unaware of.

Talking about Pragati, Nikhil Khamkar, IT department head of the Khamkar School in Badlapur, said, "Pragati was a bright student who was very interested in studies. She was not a rote-learner, but would understand concepts. She visited us recently to get a few doubts cleared before her SSC exam."

Cop speak
Senior Police Inspector Anant Rane, Kalyan Government Railway Police, said, "We have registered an accidental death case. We are probing it further."

When asked about the allegation made by Pragati's family, Rane said, "The family has not told anything to us yet."