Man abducts girl, both found dead on railway tracks

An unidentified man and a one-year-old child were found dead on the railway tracks between Kandivali and Borivali stations on Friday night. The duo was hit by a Borivali local. The police suspect that the man had kidnapped the girl and taken her to the isolated spot to molest her, when the accident occurred. 

According to the police, the body of the child was found a few metres away from the tracks and they suspect that she was flung out of the man's arms during the collision.

Kasturba police station has registered a case of kidnapping against the deceased and investigations are on to identify the man.

Police sources say the victim’s mother, a vendor, was busy at her fruit stall located outside Borivali station (east) with her daughter at around 9.30pm on Friday. She abandoned the stall, where she left her daughter to fetch water nearby and returned to find her child missing.

An hour later, after enquiring with other vendors, the mother approached the Kasturba police station and filed a missing person complaint.

Assistant police commissioner, Sunil Deshmukh said, “After kidnapping the girl, the man walked towards Kandivali on the railway tracks for about 500 meters to an isolated spot. It seems that when tried to cross the tracks, a Borivali bound train dashed him. The motorman reported the incident to the Borivali GRP.”

According to Deshmukh, the GRP officials only spotted the man's at first. When they later returned to the scene in search of the man's belongings, they discovered the body of the child.

“She died due to a head injury. The victim’s mother was called to identify the body,” said Deshmukh.

Half of the kidnapper’s face was badly damaged in the accident, making it difficult to identify the man but police suspect he was part of a Ganesh immersion crowd since gulal was found on his clothes. The police also suspect he was inebriated. “We have sent a vaginal swab from the girl for medical testing to determine if she was abused,” said Deshmukh.