Malappuram: A one-year-old girl with a heart disease died on a train after her mother's pleas for medical help or a seat were turned down. The child's parents said that they were pushed off the reserved coaches by ticket examiners every time the train halted at a station.
Mariyam, the daughter of Sumayya and Shamir from Irikkur near Kannur, died on the Mangaluru-Thiruvananthapuram Maveli Express near Kuttippuram around 11.30 pm on Wednesday. The child had undergone a heart surgery at the Sree Chitra Tirunal Hospital in Thiruvananthapuram three months ago.
Running a temperature, Mariyam was taken to a doctor at Irikkur who referred her to the Sree Chitra Tirunal Hospital. The family could not ensure a reserved berth on the train at the last moment. Yet they got into a reserved coach because they feared that the child's condition would deteriorate in a crowded general coach.
The ticket examiners, however, would not listen to their desperate pleas or look at the sick child. They forced the family out of the reserved coach. Summayya found refuge in a general coach reserved for women, while Shameer got into a general coach.
The child's temperature shot up in the meantime and Sumayya was left alone with the child in a crowded general coach with no one to support her. Her fellow passengers yanked the emergency chain to stop the train near Kuttippuram after the child's condition worsened.
The Railway Protection Officers swung into action and found Shameer in the adjacent coach. The child was rushed to a hospital at Kuttippuram in an ambulance but it was too late.
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