Lost & ailing senior citizen on train sent home to Mumbai
Times News Network | Jan 22, 2019, 05:30 IST
Caption Kicker: ABCDMysuru: A woman in her late sixties who was sick and lost in a railway coach on Sunday was sent back home in another train by Railway Protection Force personnel.
This reporter, travelling in the same coach, came across the woman who was coughing and shivering in the Bengaluru-Mysuru Chamundi Express late on Sunday. On arrival at Mysuru Junction around 9.30pm, her condition was brought to the notice of police and they assured her they’d take care of the woman.
The ailing Muchyalamma asked fellow passengers to buy her food or coffee as she was very hungry. When asked for personal details, she said she was from Mumbai and she couldn’t mention her destination. She also didn’t realise the train was heading to Mysuru.
Until she reached Mysuru, Muchyallamma often said her son and husband were waiting for her at the station. At Mysuru, police said she travelled every day on one train or the other and would often be seen roaming around the station.
When fellow passengers alerted RPF and authorities, they said she was a beggar and couldn’t help her as she was travelling without a ticket. The reporter got a call around 10.08pm from a man who said he was ASI, RPF, Mysuru division. He said Muchallamma was from Salem and she had been sent back. “When we tried to speak to her in Kannada, she didn’t reply. When we spoke in Tamil, she answered our questions and said she was from Salem. As she was hungry, we gave her idli and sent her in another train. We couldn’t do more than offer her food,” he said.
The officer said he had dropped her off on another train rather than send her to an old age home. He added that before calling the railways for help, passengers should check the background of such aged women and men. This reporter checked the number and it was from the RPF police station.
When this was brought to the notice of KS Kabbur, commandant, RPF, Mysuru division, South Western Railway, he said, “Beggars or children roaming on platforms are usually taken by RPF personnel and they’re taken to a government home for beggars or child rescue centres. We need to take care of such people. I’ll speak to the RPF personnel.”
- (BY Akshatha J, with inputs from R Uday Kumar)
This reporter, travelling in the same coach, came across the woman who was coughing and shivering in the Bengaluru-Mysuru Chamundi Express late on Sunday. On arrival at Mysuru Junction around 9.30pm, her condition was brought to the notice of police and they assured her they’d take care of the woman.
The ailing Muchyalamma asked fellow passengers to buy her food or coffee as she was very hungry. When asked for personal details, she said she was from Mumbai and she couldn’t mention her destination. She also didn’t realise the train was heading to Mysuru.
Until she reached Mysuru, Muchyallamma often said her son and husband were waiting for her at the station. At Mysuru, police said she travelled every day on one train or the other and would often be seen roaming around the station.
When fellow passengers alerted RPF and authorities, they said she was a beggar and couldn’t help her as she was travelling without a ticket. The reporter got a call around 10.08pm from a man who said he was ASI, RPF, Mysuru division. He said Muchallamma was from Salem and she had been sent back. “When we tried to speak to her in Kannada, she didn’t reply. When we spoke in Tamil, she answered our questions and said she was from Salem. As she was hungry, we gave her idli and sent her in another train. We couldn’t do more than offer her food,” he said.
The officer said he had dropped her off on another train rather than send her to an old age home. He added that before calling the railways for help, passengers should check the background of such aged women and men. This reporter checked the number and it was from the RPF police station.
When this was brought to the notice of KS Kabbur, commandant, RPF, Mysuru division, South Western Railway, he said, “Beggars or children roaming on platforms are usually taken by RPF personnel and they’re taken to a government home for beggars or child rescue centres. We need to take care of such people. I’ll speak to the RPF personnel.”
- (BY Akshatha J, with inputs from R Uday Kumar)
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