6 days ago
Girl struggles to breathe in crowded train, bystanders laugh; Railways show ‘concern'
Indian Railways has responded after a viral video showed a young girl struggling to breathe in an overcrowded train coach while bystanders laughed and filmed her, asking the public to share details of the incident for prompt action. Girl struggles to breathe in an overcrowded train, tries to open the window, and splashes water.(Videograb/ANUR VNS )
The video, which has gained widespread attention on social media, shows the girl seated by the window in a second-class coach, visibly gasping for air amid the extreme heat and rush of passengers.
She repeatedly tries to open the window and splashes water on her face in a bid to cool herself, while people inside the coach and on the platform appear to laugh, shout, and film her instead of helping.
Social media users expressed outrage at the bystanders' behaviour. One user wrote on X, 'As I say Indians lack empathy and severely lack civilized behaviour. People's behaviour and understanding of emergency situation and emergency care is extremely low in India. Emergency response theory and practical must be the part of syllabus in schools in India.'
Another user said, 'It's a social evil and collective responsibility we are not raising humans any more. They are machines with idiotic power as even machines are being developed with machine learning feature … Look at the pain on her face, how could anyone laugh?'
The post that went viral called for deployment of CRPF personnel at crowded stations during festivals and implementing access control to prevent such incidents. 'These people just stood there laughing and recording on their phones while a girl was gasping for breath, literally fighting to stay conscious? That's not just shameless, it's inhuman,' wrote another user.
Users also tagged Union railways minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, calling for stricter crowd management during peak travel periods.
In response, Indian Railways said, 'We are concerned to see this. Please share details like place of incidence, date of incidence, and mobile number so that we get it checked. You may also raise your concern directly on RailMadad for speedy redressal.'
