A wheelchair-bound stand-up comedian from Mumbai has sparked widespread outrage online after he claimed he was trapped at Worli Metro station for over 45 minutes due to a malfunctioning lift without any meaningful help from metro authorities.
The incident was shared on Instagram by Karn Shah, who described the experience as “one of the scariest nights” of his life. Shah, who also appeared on Samay Raina’s YouTube show India’s Got Latent, said the episode revealed how inaccessible public infrastructure continues to be for people with disabilities.
In the video, Shah said that the only lift at the Worli metro station was out of order, so he could not leave safely.
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“I have been waiting here for over 45 minutes. Unfortunately, there is only one functional lift in Worli and that too is not working,” he said.
“They told me to walk home”
What followed, Shah said, was deeply alarming. When he asked station staff for help, he was reportedly told, “Aap ghar paidal chale jao” (Walk home) despite being in a wheelchair.
Pointing the camera towards the traffic outside the station, Shah added, “This is a busy main road. Cars, buses, bikes are moving. And they expect me to go from Worli to Dadar like this.”
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Emergency lines ‘didn’t work’
Shah said repeated attempts to connect to Metro’s emergency line were unsuccessful.
“I’ve called 911 two or three times. They say they’ll put you through to someone, but the call hangs up in two seconds. No one picks up,” he said.
Without official help, Shah said he was forced to cross the road alone despite his urgent need to access a washroom.
“Nothing is accessible. There is no wheelchair accessible toilet because the subway is not working. I don’t know what to say anymore,” he said in the video.
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“Affordability is not a luxury”
In the caption accompanying his post, Shah emphasized that the problem went far beyond the broken elevator.
“Tonight I wasn’t scared because I’m disabled. I was scared because the system failed me at every turn – elevators, help lines, roads, washrooms,” he wrote.
“Affordability is not a luxury infrastructure. It is a basic human dignity.”
Public outrage and calls for accountability
The video has since gone viral, with many users calling the incident a system failure. Some compared India’s infrastructure to accessibility standards abroad, while others demanded accountability from the authorities.
“This is just horrible. It needs to be fixed. Thanks for pointing this out and sorry you had to go through this,” the user wrote.
Another wrote: “You need an insane amount of commitment to live with this kind of accessibility infrastructure, really pray the system does something about it after the election.”
“India is not wheelchair friendly yet. We’re sorry you had to go through this,” wrote a third user on Instagram.
A sarcastic post aimed at the officials read: “Great job. Keep harassing citizens to get everyone out of town.”
No official response yet
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation has not yet issued any statement regarding the incident or the allegations made in Shah’s video.
