NEW DELHI: In a shocking incident, a railway employee was beaten to death by a girl’s family members and fellow passengers aboard the Humsafar Express bound for New Delhi in the early hours of Thursday. The man was accused of sexually assaulting an 11-year-old girl, police said.
The incident unfolded when a family from Siwan boarded the train from Barauni, Bihar, on Wednesday. Around 11:30 pm, Group D railway employee Prashant Kumar reportedly made the 11-year-old girl from the family sit on his seat. When the girl’s mother went to the washroom, Kumar allegedly molested the girl.
Upon returning, the girl immediately ran to her mother, hugged her, and began crying. She recounted the incident to her mother, who then informed her husband, father-in-law, and other passengers in the M1 (AC III tier economy) coach.
As the train reached Aishbagh junction in Lucknow, the enraged passengers and family members caught hold of Kumar and took him to the area near the doors of the coach. He was reportedly beaten until the train reached Kanpur Central, approximately an hour and a half later.
Upon arrival at Kanpur Central around 4:35 am on Thursday, officials from the Government Railway Police (GRP) took Kumar to a hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival.
The girl’s family has filed a complaint of sexual assault, while Kumar’s family has filed a complaint of murder. Kumar’s uncle, Pawan, from Samastpur village in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, questioned the circumstances leading to his nephew’s death, suggesting a conspiracy and lack of intervention from the Railway Police Force.
Superintendent of Police, GRP (Prayagraj), Abhishek Yadav, confirmed the sequence of events. “When the train crossed Aishbagh, the girl said she had been molested. Her family members and other passengers beat up the accused. At Kanpur Central, the accused was handed over to the GRP and a complaint was filed. When he was taken to the hospital, he was declared dead,” Yadav stated.
The investigation is ongoing, with authorities examining both the sexual assault allegations and the circumstances surrounding Kumar’s death.