Vasai: A 20-year-old woman lost part of her arm under a moving train after she was pushed onto the tracks from a platform at Naigaon railway station while fighting off her molester last week. The 53-year-old suspect was tracked down and arrested five days later.A case of molestation and attempt to murder has been registered against the man, Jitendra Hirmukhe. He is currently in judicial custody. The woman is undergoing treatment at a civic hospital in Mumbai.According to a police complaint lodged by the woman, who got married just five months ago, she went to Malad on Nov 4 to buy a phone. She reached Malad station in the evening but after seeing that trains were already packed, she travelled to Borivli station and took a slow Vira-bound local train.The woman said in her complaint that this train, too, was crowded though and she mistakenly entered the compartment reserved for persons with disabilities. “A man kept pushing me repeatedly. I initially ignored him. However, when the train reached Bhayander station, he started touching me inappropriately,” she told police.Around 7.15pm, the woman and Hirmukhe got down at Naigaon station, where she confronted him for molesting her. However, the man doubled down, allegedly touched her inappropriately again and defiantly asked her: “What difference does it make?”Angered by his response, the woman took off a slipper and threw it at him. Hirmukhe allegedly abused her, removed his own slipper and hit her with it.The train was still standing at the platform and many passengers gathered to intervene. Suddenly, Hirmukhe allegedly pushed the woman, causing her to fall on the tracks, into the gap between two coaches. As she tried to climb back onto the platform, the train started moving. She fell into the platform gap. Her left arm came under the train’s wheels and was cut off below the elbow.Hirmukhe fled from the spot. The woman was initially taken to a Vasai hospital and later shifted to the Mumbai facility for further treatment.Bhayander railway police examined CCTV footage from the station and traced the man to his residence in Wakipada, Naigaon East. He was arrested on Nov 9. Hirmukhe originally hails from Dharashiv district.“He has stomach cancer and was travelling in the compartment reserved for persons with disabilities. We traced him with the help of CCTV footage and arrested him from Naigaon,” said Ganpat Tumbada, senior inspector, Bhayander railway police.Initially, police registered a case under sections 74 (molestation), 117(2) (voluntarily causing hurt) and 352 (intentional insult) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Section 109 (attempt to murder) was subsequently added.The woman demanded the strictest punishment for Hirmukhe. “Despite having done nothing wrong, I had to go through this ordeal. I have permanently lost one of my arms… I want justice,” she said in her statement.
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