Mumbai: Man Sentenced to 10 Years for Robbing and Dragging Woman from Train
During the struggle, the accused dragged the woman to the train door as she held onto her bag, causing her to fall off when he jumped out.
A Mumbai sessions court has handed down a ten-year jail term to a man for stealing from a 58-year-old woman and throwing her off a running train in an August 2018 crime. The accused, Mukadar Idrisi, the court held, put the victim‘s life at risk while trying to steal her handbag.
The incident took place on August 22, 2018, on the Udyan Express shortly after it left Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus at about 8:10 AM. The prosecution said that Idrisi attempted to snatch the handbag from Pratibha Tripathi by force. When she struggled, a fight broke out during which he pulled her towards the door and leaped off the moving train, and Tripathi fell off as well.
As Idrisi fled with the purloined purse, Tripathi suffered severe head and hand injuries. Though traumatized, she was able to wave down a motorman on a passing local train, who pulled up and, with the assistance of passengers, helped her board. She got down at Byculla railway station and was taken to Sir J J Hospital, where she was kept in hospital for five days.
Another Public Prosecutor Abhijeet Gondwal informed the court that several witnesses were cross-questioned in court, including the victim herself, the deputy station master of the Byculla station who happened to be on the platform at the time and saw what was happening, and the doctor who treated her.
The defence, made through legal aid counsel Sanjay Naik, asserted that Idrisi had been falsely accused and that the perpetrator had not yet been discovered. The court discounted this argument, however.
Referring to its April 5 order, Additional Sessions Judge A A Joglekar observed, “It has to be borne in mind that the life of the passenger was risked, an older woman to say the least. This specific angle merits sheer consideration and hence, such blatant act of the accused cannot be overlooked and he cannot be released on the said charge.”
While Idrisi was acquitted of attempt to murder since the court could not find an intent to kill, he was convicted under Section 392 (robbery) and Section 397 (robbery or dacoity with attempt to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code. He was also convicted under Section 154 of the Railways Act for causing danger to the safety of passengers on railways.
The ruling is a reminder of the serious implications of offenses on public transport, especially when they endanger lives.
