‘Who will return her, why couldn’t police stop protesters…’: Victim’s mother laments loss of daughter among two killed by train while crossing tracks during flash strike

The five were rushed to JJ Hospital, where 19-year-old Hailey Mohmaya and 45-year-old Suryakant Naik, a resident of Mira Road, were declared dead. Hailey’s paternal aunt, Khushbu, sustained fractures to her hand and was shifted to a private hospital.

“Hailey was doing her first year BA at Somaiya College and was heading to South Mumbai for some work along with Khushbu,” said a relative at the hospital. Hailey’s father, Priyesh Mohmaya, works in the share market and lives in Matunga.

Two other injured passengers, 62-year-old Yafiza Chougule and her 22-year-old son Kaif, were also shifted to a private hospital in South Mumbai. “Yafiza’s condition is critical and she is unconscious while Kaif sustained minor injuries,” said a GRP official.

According to the GRP, Yafiza and Kaif, residents of Mumbra, decided to walk to a relative’s home at Sandhurst Road after waiting in the stalled train. Seeing them, Hailey and Khushbu, who were “suffocating in the crowded compartment”, also alighted, followed by Naik. “They started walking on the track to go to the other side. However, around the same time the strike was called off and the Ambarnath-bound train hit them,” the official said. The GRP has recorded Kaif’s statement at JJ Hospital.

The flash strike was launched in protest against the GRP registering an FIR on November 1 against two Central Railway (CR) engineers and senior officials for alleged negligence that led to a fatal accident in Mumbra in June, in which five persons died. Soon after the FIR, unions had warned of industrial action, calling the FIR “unfair action” by the GRP.

Passengers were left in the lurch as trains were halted at CSMT around 5.30 pm, and protesters with CRMS and NFIR banners staged a sit-in outside senior officials’ offices demanding withdrawal of the FIR. The strike caused chaos across Central Railway stations, triggering overcrowding at CSMT, Byculla and Sandhurst Road. With no announcements initially, confused commuters deboarded halted trains and began walking on the tracks. Services resumed at 6.30 pm.

The CSMT GRP is recording statements of eyewitnesses and relatives of the victims.

Local MLA Amin Patel visited in the JJ hospital and met Hailey’s family members. Demanding action against the protesters, Hailey’s mother told Patel, “Who will return my daughter, and why the police could not stop those protesting during the peak hours.”