The quick thinking of two teenage boys saved the life of an Army man’s 5-year-old daughter, as they pulled her to safety before she could jump off a Mumbai local train at Dadar station.
The incident took place on Saturday, 12 January. The Army man, 37-year-old Rupesh Sharman Rai, who is posted at Navy Nagar, was travelling to Matheran over the weekend with his wife Marina, daughter Saisha and a few other relatives. Rushing to catch the train as it was about to leave, Marina and Saisha managed to board, leaving Rai and two other relatives behind on the platform, Mid-Day reported.
Now separated, Marina tried to get off the train to join the rest of the family, but fell onto the platform in the attempt as the train had started to move.
“I began shouting at my wife to get off, meanwhile, the train picked up speed. Despite that, my wife jumped from the train and fell on to the platform. My daughter still remained in the compartment. I tried to run behind the train to catch it, but couldn’t.”Rupesh Sharman Rai told Mid-Day
At this point, her 5-year-old Saisha tried to follow her mother and jump off the moving train. It was at this point that the two teenage boys who were travelling in the same compartment anticipated her movement and held her back inside the carriage.
Due to the efforts of the two boys, Ismail Siraj Sheikh and Mohammed Taufiq Tayyeb Sheikh, the girl was saved and was reunited with her family some 20 minutes later, the report added.
Speaking to the newspaper, Prasad Pandhare, Senior Inspector of Dadar GRP said:
“The train already left the platform and Saisha tried to jump but teenagers Ismail Siraj Sheikh and Mohammed Taufiq Tayyeb Sheikh, held her and saved her from falling off. Both of them then shouted for the passengers seated inside the compartment to pull the chain. The train was then stopped by the motorman at Matunga railway station.”
After Saisha was reunited with her parents, they thanked the two boys profusely for saving her life.“I have no words to thank those angels. They literally snatched my daughter from the jaws of death,” Rai told Mid-Day.
The boys too spoke to the newspaper, with Taufiq saying that the duo had boarded the train from Byculla station.
“When the crowd entered the train we saw a woman falling from the train and then her daughter tried to jump too. But the train had already left the platform. Without a second thought, we held her while she was literally getting off the footboard. We are glad that we managed to save her,” he said.
The two boys were later felicitated for their efforts by the Dadar GRP and Rai’s family, for saving Saisha’s life.
(With inputs from Mid-Day)
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