The body of a 20-year-old woman from Bihar, who has been identified as Arti Kumar on the basis of her Aadhaar card, was found near the washroom of the S4 coach of Swaraj Express, which runs between Bandra Terminus and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra (SVDK) in Jammu & Kashmir on Sunday morning.
“The woman was found with a cloth around her neck, lying on the floor, as the train staff opened the latch,” said an official, adding that on getting information through the railway control room, RPF Sub-Inspector Sudhakar Singh entered the train with other railway and on-duty GRP staff and found a female aged about 20, with a dupatta tied around her neck lying near the washroom of the S4 coach and recovered an Aadhaar card in the name of ‘Arti Kumari, daughter of Mithilesh Mandal, resident of Margujan Nipaniya Purniya, Bihar’.
“The train had left Bandra Terminus at around 11am and the victim had entered the toilet after it left Borivli and did not come out, so the passengers complained to the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) and the train was given an unscheduled halt at Dahanu Road station in Palghar district at 1.09pm after the alarm chain was pulled,” said Naresh Randhir, senior inspector, Government Railway Police (GRP), Palghar.
“The TTE and the passengers banged on the door of the toilet but there was no response as it was latched from the inside,” said Randhir. “After the train halted at Dahanu, we broke open the door latch and found the woman lying on the floor with a cloth around her neck, apparently motionless and not responding,” he further said.
“Her Aadhaar card was recovered, which showed her identity as Arti Kumar, age 20, and a resident of Bihar and we moved the victim to Cottage Hospital in Dahanu Road, where she was declared dead before admission. We have registered an accidental death report (ADR) in the case and the autopsy report is awaited. Further investigation is on,” said a GRP officer.
“We do not know whether it was a suicide, murder or accident, and whether she was travelling alone or with someone else,” police said. The train was delayed for an hour and around 2.30pm, it proceeded on its onward journey to Vaishno Devi Katra,” said GRP officers, adding, “We are checking the CCTV footage of all stations (where the train halted), starting from Bandra Terminus.”
However, sources said that the deceased was spotted chatting with a man and a child at the start of journey but officials maintained, “The body was found unattended, it will be confirmed only after the investigation is over.”
