Title - Railways told to pay Rs 8.7 lakh to kin of woman who died after berth fell on her

The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum of Gurdaspur has directed Northern Railways to pay a compensation of Rs. 8.7 lakh to legal heirs of Meenu, who allegedly succumbed to neck injuries after a berth fell on her neck when she was travelling to Pathankot from Jalandhar in Shalimar Express on January 27, 2011.Forum President Sanjay Garg and members Raj Kumar and Jagdeep Kaur gave the directions, following a complaint filed by Meenu’s husband Jatinder Sexena and his children Neha and Sahil.The Forum directed Northern Railways to pay Rs. 5.2 lakh towards loss of income and Rs 2.5 lakh for treatment costs incurred. It has also asked the railways to pay Rs 1 lakh for loss of love and affection and loss of service which Meenu would have provided as a wife to Saxena and as a mother to the children. Pathankot-resident Meenu was on her way to Pathankot with Saxena, children and other family members after attending the marriage of her daughter Upasna at Saharanpur on January 25.“We took Meenu to different hospitals for treatment. But, after nearly 20 days, she succumbed to the injury that had paralysed her. The treatment cost took a heavy toll on the family. We had already spent more than Rs 5 lakh on our daughter’s marriage. At places we did not procure the treatment cost bills to avoid paying VAT,” he added.Saxena said another ordeal began when railway authorities completely shrugged off their responsibilities. “It came as a shock to me when railway officials denied the occurrence of the incident. I had even failed to get on record that I used a stretcher trolley of the station to take my wife out of the railway station for treatment,” he claimed.His counsel Kavi Raj Saini said the railways even went on to challenge the jurisdiction of the consumer forum to hear the complaint.The forum, however, observed that there was sufficient evidence, in the form of medical reports and FIR, to prove that Meenu suffered grievous injuries on her neck after a berth of the railway coach fell on her.”The forum directed Northern Railways to pay the compensation amount within 30 days of receipt of the order, failing which the amount would be payable along with interest at the rate of 9 per cent per annum.