CHENNAI: In a tragic incident, a 25-year-old migrant worker, suspected to be mentally ill, allegedly died of suffocation after one of his relatives tied him with a rope and closed his mouth with a piece of cloth to restrain him and pushed him under the seat of an unreserved compartment onboard Raptisagar Express on Wednesday. The relative was taking him back to Chhattisgarh from a stone quarry worksite in Erode.
The Chennai Central Government Railway Police (GRP) said Prakash alias Parasuram Serva of Chhattisgarh arrived in Erode on Tuesday along with nine others, including Ramkumar and a minor boy, to work in the stone quarry.
After reaching the worksite, Prakash, who had no history of mental illness, became restless and had episodes of violent outbursts. His employer decided to send him back home to Chhattisgarh along with Ramkumar and the minor boy.
‘Tied, gagged him after he became aggressive’
A GRP officer said, “Worried by Prakash’s conduct, Ramkumar contacted his mother and informed her about his condition. After she told him to bring her son home, Ramkumar and Prakash, accompanied by a minor boy who had come with them the previous day, boarded the unreserved compartment of Kochuveli-Gorakhpur Raptisagar Express in Erode on Wednesday evening.”
An hour into the journey, Prakash got up and began running around in the compartment, police said. To control him, Ramkumar tied Prakash’s hands and feet with a cloth. But Prakash became aggressive and started shouting. To restrain him, Ramkumar then tied a piece of cloth around his mouth and neck and pushed him under the seat. Police said,
“When the train reached Central Station, fellow passengers informed us about the issue. When we went in and checked under the seat, we found Prakash dead. We filed a case of murder and sent the body to Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital for postmortem.” Prakash is married and has a child.