Passengers detain train after newborn dies

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA, APRIL 30. In a bizarre incident, a woman delivered a baby in a running train. However, after the baby died, angry passengers held up the train for three hours, protesting against the indifference of the Railway authorities in attending to the emergency.

Rajendran, a railway khalasi, working in Gandhidham station, Gujarat, was taking his pregnant wife, Chandram, to her native village, Porachakurchi, near Salem in Tamil Nadu, for delivery. She began experiencing labour pains at around 7.30 a.m., but she did not take it seriously. At around 8.45 a.m., the pain became unbearable and she rushed to the toilet. She reportedly came out after a while in a very bad shape and told her husband and co- passengers that she had delivered a baby.

The anxious husband and other passengers wrote a message on a piece of paper and dropped it at a small station on the way. A little later, a passengers pulled the alarm chain at Gangineni station and asked the Station Master to send a message to Vijayawada asking for a doctor and ambulance.

The train arrived at the Vijayawada station half an hour later, but there was no doctor or ambulance waiting. It reportedly took 15 to 20 minutes for the Railway doctor to find the coach in which the mother and child were in. There was more delay when the doctor hesitated to examine the mother in the presence of the passengers. Finally, after his examination of the mother and the child he declared the baby dead and said the mother had to be hospitalised.

The passengers then detained the train, protesting against the ``indifference'' of the Railway authorities.

The Railway authorities said the message only said a woman had delivered a baby in the train and that a doctor was required to examine the mother and child. They said the doctor was waiting for the train when it arrived and it took him some time to locate the coach. Only when he saw the mother and child did he realise the gravity of the situation.

Some passengers who had relatives here telephoned them for support. Leaders of a local Jain Sangh demanded that the Railway authorities accept responsibility for the death of the infant. Only then would they allow the train to move on. The protestors relented only after the Station Superintendent apologised on behalf of the Railways.

The mother was admitted to the Railway Hospital here and is said to be out of danger. The father, holding his two-year-old daughter in his arm, told The Hindu that the newborn which died was a boy. ``Now there is no need for us to go to the village. We will return to Gandhidham''.

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