MUMBAI: A 24-year-old man tried to push a young woman under a running train at Khar station as she was not responding to his advances.
When he couldn't succeed in pushing her into the gap between the rake and the platform, the man broke into a sprint. He was tracked down and arrested 12 hours later. The shocking incident was captured on CCTVs at Khar station. The victim was administered 12 stitches in a hospital.
Sumedh Jadhav, the accused, lives in Wadala. He was interested in a 21-year-old collegian from Khar, but she did not reciprocate. "The two used to work in the same organisation in 2018. Jadhav tried to befriend her but was not successful. Later, the woman quit the job and joined another private firm," said a GRP official. The woman is presently in the last year of degree college while Jadhav is unemployed.
Police said Jadhav had been pursuing her relentlessly and on one occasion, he had threatened her. The woman had registered a non-cognisable complaint at the Nirmal Nagar police station at that time.
On February 19, Jadhav called her up and said he wanted to meet her. The woman was at her Andheri office at the time. She immediately called up her mother and requested her to come to Khar station to pick her up. Around 8.10pm, Jadhav approached the woman while she was with her mother. The woman's mother refused to budge and said he could speak in her presence, if he wished. An argument broke out and Jadhav threatened he would jump before a running train.
CCTVs have captured his attempt to jump around 8.15pm. He suddenly changed his mind, moved towards the woman and dragged her. He tried pushing her into the gap between the rake and platform, even as the woman resisted. When passersby rushed to her rescue, he began to run. The police were informed and the victim was rushed to a hospital. She had suffered injuries to her face and was administered 12 stitches.
Jadhav had switched off his mobilephone after the incident. Police kept tracking his location and by Saturday morning, he turned his phone on. "Twelve hours since the incident, he was taken into custody. He has been booked under section 307 of IPC for 'attempt to commit murder.' The victim has been discharged from hospital and is home," said senior inspector Vilas Chougule, Bandra GRP.
(The victim's identity has been kept confidential)