Woman beaten to death on train for objecting to smoking

A woman was beaten to death on board a train near the Bareilly station when she asked a group of youngsters not to smoke in the compartment, police said on Saturday.

The incident happened on board the Jalianwala Bagh Express which was going from Amritsar to Tata Nagar.

Police said the woman and her son and daughter-in-law were unable to tolerate the cigarette smoke, and that when they objected, they were thrashed.

The woman sustained serious injuries in the attack. Two assailants fled by jumping off the train when it approached the Shahjahanpur railway station. One of them was overpowered by passengers and handed over to the Government Railway Police (GRP).

The profusely bleeding woman was rushed to the district hospital in a critical condition. She was declared dead on arrival by doctors.

She has been identified as Chinta Devi (50), a resident of Bihar. She was returning home for Chatth puja from Punjab where she lived with her son who worked there.

One of the assailants has been identified as Sonu, a resident of Azamgarh.

The police said efforts were on to arrest the other youth.

--IANS

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