Hit by stone, disabled lad suffers fracture during footboard travel
The 19-yr-old lost his watch and wallet which fell out of the local when he was struck near Dombivli.
A 19-year-old disabled student, standing near the door of a moving train last week, suffered a fracture to his hand and lost his wrist watch and wallet, when thieves hurled a stone at him near Dombivli.
Vasind resident Shaikh Hassan, who works in a local garage and studies at Vikhroli Night School, was returning home on the night of December 1 when the incident occurred shortly after the Kasara local had pulled out of Dombivli station.
Hassan got out at Kalyan and approached the Railway police. A constable and the station master took him to Rukhmanibai Hospital in Kalyan, where it was found that he had fractured his left hand. “They dressed my hand and discharged me,” said Hassan, “but things could have been far worse - I could have lost my balance and fallen out of the moving train."
The Railway police report about 14 to 16 such cases every year in which commuters suffer injuries, including losing their vision, when hit by stones hurled at trains by miscreants and thieves. Police say it is difficult to track down the culprits as, in most of cases, they belong to hutments near the tracks and the slumdwellers protect them. The police also said that thieves earlier perched on poles to hit at footboard travellers in a bid to steal their mobile phones and belongings. "Since we started a campaign and took cognizance of all such spots, they have taken up new ways to steal from commuters,” a Railway constable from Kalyan said. “We have taken down Hassan's complaint and forwarded it to Dombivli where the crime was committed. Further investigations are on.”
Meanwhile, the Railway Passengers Association said that such incidents have become more frequent, and demanded that stringent action be taken. “The fines and punishment meted out in such cases need to be drastically raised so as to serve as a deterrent,” Subhash Gupta, a member of the association said.
A 19-year-old disabled student, standing near the door of a moving train last week, suffered a fracture to his hand and lost his wrist watch and wallet, when thieves hurled a stone at him near Dombivli.
Vasind resident Shaikh Hassan, who works in a local garage and studies at Vikhroli Night School, was returning home on the night of December 1 when the incident occurred shortly after the Kasara local had pulled out of Dombivli station.
"It was around 8.45 pm and I was standing on the footboard of the handicapped compartment,” Hassan, who was born with a disability to his left leg, told Mumbai Mirror. “I was carrying my sling bag on my shoulder and was putting my wallet into it when suddenly a stone struck my left hand. The strap of my watch broke and it fell out, while I dropped my wallet which contained Rs 300. I reared back in pain and the sudden jerk caused my mobile to fall out of my shirt pocket, but fortunately it landed inside the train,” he said.
Hassan got out at Kalyan and approached the Railway police. A constable and the station master took him to Rukhmanibai Hospital in Kalyan, where it was found that he had fractured his left hand. “They dressed my hand and discharged me,” said Hassan, “but things could have been far worse - I could have lost my balance and fallen out of the moving train."
The Railway police report about 14 to 16 such cases every year in which commuters suffer injuries, including losing their vision, when hit by stones hurled at trains by miscreants and thieves. Police say it is difficult to track down the culprits as, in most of cases, they belong to hutments near the tracks and the slumdwellers protect them. The police also said that thieves earlier perched on poles to hit at footboard travellers in a bid to steal their mobile phones and belongings. "Since we started a campaign and took cognizance of all such spots, they have taken up new ways to steal from commuters,” a Railway constable from Kalyan said. “We have taken down Hassan's complaint and forwarded it to Dombivli where the crime was committed. Further investigations are on.”
Meanwhile, the Railway Passengers Association said that such incidents have become more frequent, and demanded that stringent action be taken. “The fines and punishment meted out in such cases need to be drastically raised so as to serve as a deterrent,” Subhash Gupta, a member of the association said.
