Kin demands job for girl whose legs Metro crushed

NEW DELHI - Two days after a Metro train ran over a young man and 22-year-old Mehzabeen and rendered her handicapped for life, her relatives demanded that the Delhi Metro or the state government should help by giving her a job.

Delhi Metro spokesperson Anuj Dayal, however, said that while the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) would take care of her medical expenses, it could not give a job to the victim since the Metro was “not responsible” for the accident.

On Friday evening, Mehzabeen and Birju, 25, were crushed under a Metro train at the Rajiv Chowk station. Both were critically injured and lost their legs in the incident. Delhi Police have registered a case of negligence against unknown people and have recorded the duo’s statements.

Birju allegedly ran towards an approaching train on the platform and took Mehazabeen down onto the tracks. The victims were taken to the Ram Manohar Lohia hospital thereafter, a senior Delhi Metro official said.

“The doctors have said that Mehzabeen’s surgery was successful and her condition has improved. She is still unconscious. Doctors say recovery will take one and a half months…it will be good if the Delhi Metro or state government can give her a job so that her future is secured,” Mehjabin’s cousin Shabnam said.

“When she fell, the train was just 20-25 metres away at that time. Maybe if there was a guard present there, the accident could have been averted,” she said.

Jostling and aggressive pushing is a common sight on the Metro network and officials face an uphill task tackling the issue. Delhi Metro held that the platform was not crowded during the incident.

“DMRC assured us that they will bear all costs for Mehzabeen’s treatement. However, we have not received anything in writing till now. The officials have told us that they will send an authorisation letter to the hospital Monday morning regarding it,” she said.

Meanwhile, Birju’s mother reached Delhi Sunday from their village in Bihar.

“His mother has come. We are all very upset. Birju has been mentally unstable for some time ever since he was beaten up by some people in the slum area where he lived. Last year, in a similar incident he had pushed another woman on the road in Mongolpuri, but she luckily escaped,” said Promod Yadav, Birju’s friend.

–Indo-Asian Newe Service