20-yr-old pushed off moving train

MUMBAI, APRIL 4: In a near echo of the ghastly Jaybala Ashar episode last year, a 20-year-old nursing student was pushed out of a moving ...

MUMBAI, APRIL 4: In a near echo of the ghastly Jaybala Ashar episode last year, a 20-year-old nursing student was pushed out of a moving local train by an unidentified man near Churchgate station on Sunday morning.

Fortunately, the victim, Archana Jaywant Samudrai, escaped with some injuries on her leg, shoulder and face. Her assailant remains untraced.Samudrai, a third year student of nursing at LT College of Nursing at Churchgate and who stays in a hostel, boarded the 8.01 Andheri local at Churchgate to visit her parents at Fishermen Colony at Mahim. 8220;I entered the ladies second class compartment and I noticed that it was empty but even as I was contemplating what to do, the train started to move,8221; said Archana. 8220;I went to sit near one of the window seats thinking that I would get off at the Marine Lines station,8221; she said.

But barely a minute after the train pulled out of Churchgate and was changing tracks near the Wankhede stadium someone flung a piece of cloth on her, covering her face.8220;It wasso unexpected. He gagged my face and started to drag me out of my seat.8221; Archana says her assailant did not utter a word. She tried to struggle but was not too successful. 8220;We grappled but as he dragged me to the door I kept thinking of Jaybala Ashar8217;s fate,8221; she says. At the door, as the train changed track, the man pushed her out. 8220;Briefly I got a glimpse of his face: dark, curly hair. He was a hefty man and looked like a beggar. He wore a dirty white shirt and khaki shorts. He must have been around 25 years. But the most appaling thing was that after pushing me down he did not even bother to look. He was not concerned whether I was dead, alive, injured,8221; she recalls.

The entire incident was over in a minute. Samudrai who kept repeating through the interview how lucky she was, then got up from the tracks with bruises all over her left limbs and cheek. 8220;I was so terrified that I was shivering uncontrollably,8221; she said. She walked to the Churchgate station where she lodged a complaint and was thenescorted to Gokuldas Tejpal Hospital where she was treated and then discharged after first aid.Back home from the harrowing experience, the nursing student remains baffled by the attack.

8220;I think he was mentally disturbed, he did not even try to rob me,8221; she said, adding that a plastic bag containing a few books and some money was left behind in the train.

After the Jaybala episode, the railway police had started guarding the women8217;s compartments of all locals from 8 pm to 8 am. Unfortunately for Samudrai, it was the 8.01 Andheri local that she boarded from Churchgate. She missed police protection by a minute.

A case has been registered with the Mumbai Central railway police under Sections 337 and 424 of the Indian Penal Code. According to K Ramchandran, Superintendent of Police Railways, a manhunt has been launched to nab the attacker. 8220;We rounded up 43 persons throughout the city and took four of them who resembled the attacker to the complainant, but she could not recognise any of them,8221; headded.

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Samudrai who starts her preliminary examinations tomorrow and has to often travel by train in connection with her training says that she will continue to commute by train. 8220;In this city I have no other option but to travel by the local. Mey be a few years later when I am better off8230;.8221; she trails off vowing to put the incident behind her.

The police have requested public to inform the Mumbai Central Railway Police on 307 0197 or 307 2555 if any person resembling the suspect is seen roaming around in railway platforms or trains.