Sportswoman pushed out of moving train by robbers

A 23-year-old national-level sportswoman lost her leg when she was pushed out of a moving train near Bareilly by three men who attempted to rob her.

Sonu Sinha, a national-level football and volleyball player, was pushed from the Padmavat Express on Monday night between Chenati and Bareilly railway stations while she was travelling to Delhi to appear in an examination, police said.

As she fell on the track, she was hit by another train moving on a parallel track. Her left leg below the knee was crushed. A profusely bleeding Sonu was rushed to the district hospital here. "When she was brought here, she was in a very serious condition. Her left leg was badly damaged and her right leg had injuries. She had also suffered some head injuries. Our entire team has been treating her. Her left leg has been amputated. Her general condition is fine," a doctor treating her said.

With her legs and head in bandages, Sonu said the robbers tried to pull her gold chain. "I resisted and they pushed me out of the train. I could not move. I remember seeing a train coming towards me. I tried getting up. By then, the train had run over my leg. I don't remember anything after that," she said.

Sports minister Ajay Maken said in Delhi that he will seek details in this matter and help Sonu. "We will ask the Railways to probe the matter and nab the culprits. We will extend the best medical treatment to the player," he said.

A fight broke out in the compartment. "Sonu claims one of the men reached for her neck. She thought it might be an attempt at chain-sntatching. There was a struggle. Whether she was pushed out or her fall was accidental, only the investigation will tell," Railway official A K Jain said.

She boarded the train from Lucknow and was travelling in the general compartment, they added. Police have registered a case of attempt to murder. None of her attackers have been traced.