Railway told to cover Medical Bills of Mishap Victim

Railway told to cover Medical Bills of Mishap Victim

Madurai (MDU): The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), Southern Circle, Sunil Kumar Mittal has directed Southern Railway to cover the medical expenses of a 20-year-old woman. The young woman’s right hand was severed when a railway indication board near the track fell on a moving train near Virudhunagar recently.

Meeting the victim, R Mahalakshmi, and her parents in a private hospital on Wednesday evening, Mittal promised to help the family meet the medical expenses.

The Southern Railway provided an ex-gratia of Rs 25,000 to the victim’s mother Parvathi. On Tuesday, the Southern Railway Women’s Welfare Organization, Madurai, handed over Rs 20,000 towards the medical expenses. “In our presence, Mittal directed senior railway officials who accompanied him to approach the issue on humanitarian grounds and not on railway rules,” the family members told.

Mittal issued the directive after learning from the victim’s parents that they had to pledge their gold jewellery to meet the medical expenses. The railway officials also confirmed this.

The official recorded the statements from the victim’s mother about the accident that took place at K Usilampatti near Virudhunagar last Saturday when the mother and daughter were travelling from Chennai to Tirunelveli by Ananthapuri Express.

Responding to Mittal’s query if her daughter put her elbow outside the window when the incident happened, Parvathi clarified that it was not so.

Mittal could not record the statement from Mahalakshmi as doctors had advised against it as she had been given sedatives.

Earlier, Mittal, along with Madurai Divisional Railway Manager Sunil Kumar Garg and other senior railway officials, inspected the accident spot and recorded statements from the officials working there. Later, Mittal conducted a detailed inquiry with railway officials at the DRM office, Madurai. He inspected the coach where Mahalakshmi was seated at the time of the mishap for a better assessment.