Complaint against metro after woman injured

MMRCL pays ₹8.55L towards her medical expenses; her family seeks compensation; police inquiry on

MUMBAI: A 20-year-old woman from Vakola has decided to take the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation Limited (MMRCL) to task for the alleged negligence and inadequate safety measures that left her severely injured.

Gauri Kumari Sahu has submitted a written complaint at Andheri police station demanding that those responsible for the accident while boarding a train on October 21 be booked. Though the MMRCL has borne her medical expenses, which came to ₹8.55 lakh, Gauri’s family sought compensation. A police officer said they are inquiring into all the aspects to ascertain if there was any negligence.

Gauri is a commerce graduate and works with a private safety training institute in Chakala. She is fourth among the five siblings. Her father works as a driver with a construction firm while her mother is a homemaker. The Sahu family originally hails from Bihar’s Darbhanga.

On October 21, she along with her colleague decided to go for a Diwali shopping in Ghatkopar. Around 4 pm at Chakala metro station, her colleague entered a train but she backed out after seeing that the doors were closing. However, the lower end of her dress got stuck in the doors and she was dragged on, Gauri said.

She screamed for help and her friend raised an alarm but the train did not stop until she was banged against the railing at the end of the platform, the complaint said. Her colleague got off at the next station, came Chakala, and with the help of passengers and metro staff took Gauri to Seven Hills hospital, she said. “My colleague and other passengers inside the train pressed the emergency button a number of times, but the train did not stop. I had to run along but I could not match the train’s speed and fell down before ramming into the railing,” Gauri said.

She sustained serious bleeding injuries to her head, face, shoulder and hand. “Three surto geries are required to be performed. I lost too much blood. My liver sustained injuries and my jaw got broken. Now I find it difficult to even speak and walk,” she said.

The emergency alarm didn’t work and there were no guards on the platform, Gauri claimed. “Had these two things worked I could have been saved from the accident. It was certainly the fault on part of the metro authority. I want justice and the officials concerned should be punished so that such incidents are not repeated.”

Gauri’s elder brother Vishwajeet said, “My sister sustained serious internal injuries and after 22 days of treatment she was discharged from a hospital on November 12. The medical expenses were borne by metro officials.” He said the police initially discouraged her from filing an FIR. “There was no guard on the platform and my sister had to pay for this negligence. We want the metro authority to financially compensate us.” The MMRCL spokesperson could not be reached for comments despite several attempts.

“After I got discharged from the hospital, the police asked me if I wanted to file a complaint and I said yes. We visited the police station seeking registration of an FIR, but nothing happened,” Gauri claimed.

Santaji Ghorpade, senior inspector at Andheri police station, said an inquiry is on. “The woman’s parents initially said they had no complaint and now the woman says she has one. We are checking if the woman tried to board the train despite the door-closing alarms. We will record statements of witnesses, security guards, metro officials, and others. We are also checking the CCTV footage.”

Three surgeries are required. I lost too much blood. My liver sustained injuries and my jaw got broken. I find it difficult to even speak and walk GAURI KUMARI SAHU