The family of a 19-year-old girl, identified as Haley Momaya, who was hit by a commuter train near Sandhurst Road railway station in south Mumbai on Thursday, has accused union leaders of a snap protest against the FIR filed against two engineers in the June 9 Mumbra accident case. They also sought “immediate action” against those who demonstrated, leading to the halting of train services on the Central Line.
“Two persons were brought dead to the hospital while three were injured. Out of which two have been discharged against medical advice (DAMA) while one is being treated at the facility,” PTI quoted the official as saying. Earlier, an official said the victims had alighted from the wrong side and were walking on the tracks when they were hit.
“We want immediate action against the union leaders (behind the flash protest),” Hindustan Times quoted a relative of the victim as saying. According to another relative, Haley lived in Matunga with her parents Priyesh and Sheetal Momaya. Yesterday, Haley traveled from Matunga to CSMT via the Central Line with her 45-year-old paternal aunt Khushbu Momaya.
Priyesh Momaya, Haley’s father, said: “People were frustrated because the train was standing for a long time and she got off. I don’t know what happened after that. It all happened because of the protest.”
‘I can’t breathe on a crowded train’
According to an HT report, a relative mentioned, “Unable to breathe in the crowded stationary train, Haley followed some other passengers and got off the train along with her aunt. They then started walking on the tracks towards CSMT when they were hit by an Ambernath-bound train.”
Unions representing Central Railway employees halted suburban train services at Mumbai’s busy Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) for nearly an hour in protest against the FIR on Thursday evening. Services were restored after senior officials assured the protesters that the matter would be looked into by state authorities.
Director of Public Relations, Central Railway, Swapnil Nila, told PTI that CSMT staff, where daily passenger numbers run into several lakhs, prevented motorists and conductors from running trains between 5:50 p.m. and 6:45 p.m. The disruption led to heavy overcrowding of trains during the evening rush hour.
What happened in the Mumbra incident?
The Mumbra incident that claimed the lives of four people took place on June 9 when two trains, one bound for Kasara and the other for CSMT, passed each other on a sharp curve. According to a PTI report, According to the police, some commuters standing on the footboards of the buses fell on the tracks after their backpacks brushed against each other. After investigation, the Thane Railway Police summoned the Divisional Engineer-in-Chief and the Divisional Engineer of the Central Railway under section 125(a)(b) (acts endangering the life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
