Beaten on train, French national dies in Haryana

Chandigarh: A French national, who was brutally beaten by fellow passengers on board the Sachkhand Express train in Haryana’s Karnal town, succumbed to his injuries in a hospital here, police said Thursday.

The victim, Frank Wilfred, 23, was rushed to Chandigarh’s Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) from a hospital in Karnal town, 120 km from here, as his condition was critical.

Police officials here said that Frank died due to head and other internal injuries late Wednesday night at PGIMER.

The victim was allegedly beaten up and looted in the moving train, and later dumped by the passengers at the Karnal railway station platform Sunday.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel found him unconscious and bleeding on the platform and rushed him to a hospital in Karnal.

Seeing his critical condition, the doctors at Karnal had referred him to PGIMER.

The GRP had later arrested train ticket examiner (TTE) Manoj Kumar for failing to report the matter.

Doctors at PGIMER said Frank remained in coma for the last three days before succumbing to his injuries Wednesday.

Railway Police Inspector General (IG) V. Kamaraja said the GRP were investigating the incident.

The police recovered the victim’s belongings from the TTE’s possession.

During his interrogation by the police, the TTE had claimed he had not seen the French national on board the train.

However, the documents and belongings of Frank found from the TTE’s possession have belied the claim, a police official said.

The police have now converted the case from attempt to murder to that of murder.

The Sachkhand Express runs between Nanded (Maharashtra) and Amritsar in Punjab.

IANS

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2 Comments

  1. says: vikramjeetsingh singh

    Shame to RPF and particularly to the fellow passengers on the train..
    Is this ‘Atithi Devo Bhava’???
    This is very very shocking news:-(((
    The railways should bring the culprits to books asap..

  2. says: PradeepR

    This is yet another shocking example of rowdyism of the locals in trains passing through this state. Many years ago the so-called ‘sons of soil’ of this part of India, beat a Britisher to death when he objected to harrassment and molestation of a girl travelling in Himalayan Queen. Even today, if you travel on Himalyan Queen and have reserved ticket in AC chair car, hoardes of ticketless criminals barge into even the AC coaches — leering and lunging on women passengers, making coarse comments and laughing loud on the discomfiture of their helpless target. If you raise objection they gang up to accost you and and even ready to beat you up. The TTE, to your surprise, will take their side instead of protecting you. And on this long train journey there is no protector — be it middle of night or broad daylight. If something happens, your fellow passengers will inform you that this is the ethos of this state (so you shouldn’t really mind it!). The sole credit of effectively stamping out tourism to Himachal by Himalayan Queen goes to these criminals at large in this part of India. No wonder, anthropologists have postulated that if there was a Neandarthal Man — the missing link in the chain of Evolution — it was here.

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