Purulia couple’s baby dies on train home from Kerala

Purulia: An 18-day-old infant died on board a Shramik Special train on Wednesday while returning to Joypur, Purulia, from Kerala with her migrant parents. While the family claims they were refused medical aid when they dialled the railway helpline, the South Eastern Railway authorities have denied negligence on their part.
The baby’s parents, Dilbar Ansari and Reshma Khatun who worked at a school bag manufacturing unit in Kerala, boarded the train from Kanhangad on Monday.Paternal uncle and co-passenger Sarfaraz Ansari said as the train approached Berhampur in Odisha, they noticed the baby was unusually quiet. “My niece, Rabia Parveen, seemed to be losing consciousness. We immediately called the railway helpline and sought medical help, but were told there was nothing they could do,” he said.
Chief PRO, South Eastern Railway, Sanjoy Ghosh contested the claim and said there was no complaint received on the railway helpline regarding the infant. “We received information that the child passed away on a train from Kerala somewhere in Odisha around 2am on Wednesday. On receiving information from police, we stationed our staff at Kharagpur. The train was bound for New Jalpaiguri, but since the family is from Purulia, they were brought down at Kharagpur along with the child. There was no negligence on the part of the railways,” Ghosh added.
The baby’s family begged to differ. Uncle Sarfaraz said once the train stopped at Berhampur station, her parents drew the attention of the guard. But, police allegedly did not allow the couple to get off the train and seek medical help for the child. The guard too reportedly told them whatever help was needed would be available only after the train reached Bengal. According to the family, the baby died around 3.30am just before the train entered Balasore.
Purulia social worker Tushar Awasthi tweeted about the incident to the railway minister. Within two hours, divisional railway manager of Khurdah Road, which exercises jurisdiction over Berhampur, tweeted back requesting Awasthi to share details of officials from whom help was sought.