Mumbai local train passenger loses hand after alleged assault at Naigaon station

A 20-year-old woman lost her left hand after a man allegedly molested and pushed her onto railway tracks at Naigaon station in Palghar district. The 53-year-old accused was arrested, and a murder-attempt charge was subsequently added

Mumbai: A 20-year-old woman lost her hand after allegedly being molested on a train and pushed onto the tracks at Naigaon station in neighbouring Palghar district, a railway official said on Thursday, adding that the 53-year-old accused had been arrested.

The shocking incident took place on the evening of November 4, the Western Railway official said.

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The injured woman, whose left hand was severed, was rushed to Janseva Hospital in Vasai.

It was initially thought to be an accident. But in her statement recorded at a civic hospital in Mumbai on November 6, the woman told police that an unidentified man had molested her while she was travelling in a local train from Borivali to Naigaon, 40 km from Mumbai.

When she confronted him after alighting at Naigaon station, he allegedly pushed her, causing her to fall onto the tracks between two coaches of the train. Her left hand was severed after being run over by the train.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) then registered a case at Bhayander GRP police station under Sections 74 (assault or criminal force against a woman with the intent to outrage her modesty) and 117(2) (voluntarily causing grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

A joint team of the GRP and Railway Protection Force launched an investigation. The alleged assailant, identified as Jitendra Girjappa Hirmukhe (53), a resident of Naigaon East, was arrested on November 9, the official said.

Section 109 of the BNS, relating to attempt to murder, was subsequently added to the case, he said.

The accused is currently in judicial custody, and further investigation is underway, the official said.