Maharashtra: 140-km railway stretch sees rise in suicides; 17 cases in 5 months

Photo for representational purpose

A 140-km long stretch of the South Central Railway under Aurangabad office of the Railway Police Force (RPF) has witnessed 17 suicides in the first five months of this year alone as compared to 19 such cases reported during the entire year in 2020, an official said on Wednesday.

This rail stretch lies between Ankai in Nashik district and Badnapur in Jalna, he said.

Talking to PTI, RPF inspector in Aurangabad, Arvind Sharma, said, "Thirty-five deaths and three injuries had been reported between January and December 2020 on this stretch of railway. Of these 19 were suicides, which were identified by our loco pilots, while the remaining 16 victims had died in an accident that took place at Karmad."

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Sixteen migrant workers sleeping on rail tracks while returning to Madhya Pradesh were crushed to death by a goods train at Karmad in Aurangabad district during the coronavirus-induced lockdown in May last year.

Sharma said that passenger trains were not running during the lockdown from April-August 2020, but the goods trains were functional at that time.

"But in the first five months this year (between January and May), as many as 17 cases of suicide and three injuries were reported during this stretch. Such incidents frequently occurred between Mukundwadi and Chikalthana railway stations," he added.

The railway security forces counselled eight persons, who tried to end their lives, and sent them back home, the official said.

"Five days back, a woman was seen sitting on a railway track in a suspicious manner. Our RPF staff informed the train driver about it. When the woman tried to jump before the train, the driver was alert. We rescued the woman and counselled her. She was sent back to her family by the RPF and the Government Railway Police," Sharma said.

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