Selfie on Mumbai local roof goes wrong as teen suffers 90% burns

A 14-year-old boy who allegedly climbed on the roof of a local train at Ram Mandir station and tried to take a selfie suffered 90 per cent burns after coming in contact with an electric wire on Sunday.

The victim, Kushal Vedda, is currently admitted to KEM Hospital. The incident took place when Vedda and four of his friends were playing in the nearby railway yard. He climbed the train roof just as it was crossing the area.

Witnesses who found the boy on the roof of the train called the control room of Borivli government railway police (GRP). Vedda’s parents, residents of Malwani in Malad (West), were alerted at 3pm.

The police suspect Vedda had climbed the roof of the train to take a selfie. “We took statements of the witnesses to ascertain why the boy climbed the train roof,” said an officer from Borivli GRP station. The case has now been transferred to the Mumbai police.

The police took him to a civic hospital in Goregaon and he was later shifted to KEM Hospital in Parel. Vedda’s family owns a general store in Malwani. “He [Vedda] told us that he was going out to play, but we assumed that he wouldn’t go too far as his Class 9 exams were going to start on Monday,” said his aunt. In 2018, 22 people died and 25 were injured owing to electric shocks.

Owing to the increasing cases of stunts on trains, the Railway Police Force (RPF) have urged commuters to call the helpline 182 if they spot anyone performing stunts in trains.

First Published: Apr 15, 2019 23:55 IST