Fatal shortcut on railway track: Seaman’s wife, son run over

MUMBAI: The decision to take a

shortcut

home by crossing the railway tracks proved

fatal

for a Vasai

woman

and her two-year-old son who were

run over

by a

train

on Tuesday morning.

After attending an engagement ceremony in Delhi, Pooja Sharma (30) was returning by the Hazrat Nizamuddin-Bandra Terminus train along with her husband Amit, who works for the merchant navy, son Bhavya and her in-laws. Residents of Gokul Anand in

Vasai

(W), the family was to alight at Borivli station around 7.15am. But when the outstation train halted at Vasai station at 6.30am, the couple decided to alight, despite it not being a scheduled halt.

Amit helped Pooja, who was holding Bhavya in her arms, alight on the tracks and got back into the train to bring out the luggage and help his parents. Just when he was about to drop the luggage on the tracks, he heard loud screams. He rushed out and found Pooja and Bhavya crushed under a Virar-Borivli slow train. His parents were yet to get off the outstation train.

The Vasai Government Railway Police, who registered an accidental death case, said it was dark when the duo got onto the tracks.

Eyewitnesses claimed the mother and son were around 1km away from the station when they were run over by the train.

Locals said that it is common sight to see passengers alighting from long-distance trains at Vasai and walking along the tracks to reach their destination. As there are four to five openings that lead out of the railway tracks to Gokul Anand area, people often take this shortcut to reach home in five to 10 minutes, said locals.

In Sharmas’ case, had their train gone directly to Borivli, they would have had to take a Virar-bound train or an autorickshaw to reach home. “Had the family taken an autorickshaw, they would have reached home within 15 minutes and it would have cost Rs 50-60,” said Fazlehaq Qureshi, a neighbour of the Sharmas.