MUMBAI: A 49-year-old woman who had fallen off a running local at Mahim, after a robber snatched her phone on Monday, died at Sion Hospital on Friday morning. Priyanka Khodke had suffered a serious head injury and had lost consciousness after the fall.
Doctors said she battled for life in ICU for four days before breathing her last.
The accused, Ramzan Khan, was arrested shortly after the incident and is presently in judicial custody. The Mumbai Central GRP will slap additional charges under section 304 of IPC for ‘culpable homicide not amounting to murder’ on him. Khan is a repeat offender with four past cases of theft and robbery. Police officers said they would oppose his bail plea.
Khodke’s husband, Balmukund, was shattered. “I kept hoping she would get better but her condition never improved. I couldn’t even speak to her for the last time,” he said. Khodke passed away at 10am. Balmukund was constantly by her side while she was on ventilator. He said it was very upsetting that despite being booked in the past, Khan had continued to target commuters. “I’ve learnt that he had four past offences. Why weren’t measures taken to keep him off railway tracks permanently? Had that been done, my wife would probably be alive and safe today. The courts must take into consideration the gravity of the crime he has committed and award him the strictest possible punishment. I will keep fighting for justice,” he said.
The couple has a 23-year-old son who was also at the hospital waiting for his mother to recover.
Khodke worked in the rationing department and lived with her family at Badlapur. She was travelling home from her office in Santacruz during the evening peak hour on Monday when the incident occurred. Her commute involved changing trains from the Western line to the Central line. She had boarded an Up local from Santacruz to head towards Dadar and was standing in the passage. Around 6.35pm, just as the train started moving from Mahim station, a man jumped into the second class ladies compartment and tried to grab her phone. Khodke resisted but the robber snatched her handset and jumped off the moving local. She lost her balance and fell off the train, her head hitting the platform.
Onlookers raised an alarm and some caught hold of Khan. The police were summoned and Khan was taken to the railway police chowky while Khodke was moved to Sion Hospital. When her family dialled her phone, a cop answered and informed them of her condition.
