First Metro suicide as teen jumps in front of train

Commuters at MG Rd Station watch in horror

Marking the first suicide on Namma Metro, which completed over 120 days of operations on February 21, a 17-year-old First Pre-University student hurled himself in front a running rake at M G Road station on Monday evening, with the track a gory sight as his body cut up in several parts.

Eyewitnesses said that the youth, who was later identified as Vishnu Charan, purchased a ticket and was waiting on Platform No 1 which commuters use to take Metro trains for Baiyappanahalli. An eyewitness, Rajkumar, said around 8:35 pm he spotted the youth standing at the farthest end of the platform. “He was waiting on Platform No 1 from where trains depart for Baiyappanahalli. The train went ahead of the station on the other side to change tracks and he was waiting right at the end of the platform. He jumped soon as the train entered the station,” Rajkumar, an eyewitness, said.

“Suddenly, one private security guard blew his whistle and screamed. But by that time he had jumped in front of the train that was entering the platform,” Rajkumar narrated the fast-moving events.

All commuters on the platform, mostly those waiting to take the train to Baiyappanahalli, watched in horror as the train ran over the body and cut it up into pieces. Another eyewitness, Suresh Babu, said the youth showed no indication that he would take his own life. “He just jumped and I was too shocked to even react. He landed right on the track and the wheel ran over his back, cut it up into two halves,” Babu said.

A Metro statement said: “The train driver immediately applied emergency brakes and brought the train to a grinding halt. Since the unidentified young person jumped very close to the train, he was trapped between the rail track and the front portion of the train before the first wheel.” The statement explained that the train driver immediately informed about the incident to the station controller at M G Road Station and the operations control centre at Baiyappanahalli over radio.

Train drivers are required to follow a rule according to which they must not accelerate beyond 45 kmph while entering and exiting stations.

Fire Department personnel who reached M G Road station within 10-15 minutes said that though Charan’s body was cut up beyond recognition, his head had not severed. There was an injury near one of the temples and his neck had snapped.

One half of his torso was under the train, a fireman said, adding that it took about 45 minutes to extricate the body from under the train. Power supply to the electrified third rail was blocked to perform the operation and all Metro operations were stopped.

Charan’s parents learnt about his death when a local television news channel broadcast the news. Speaking to Deccan Herald, Charan’s uncle S V Lakshminarayana said, “He left home around 7 pm and was supposed to attend tuition classes at Wilson Garden. We have no idea how and why he landed at M G Road station.”