Shahjahanpur:

A 45-yearold woman was allegedly beaten to death by an inebriated man inside the general coach of Jallianwala Bagh Express on Saturday after she objected to his smoking. The woman, Chinta Devi, was allegedly kicked several times and pushed by 25-yearold Sonu Yadav, who also hurled abuses at her, even as scores of passengers looked on. She died of internal injuries following which the accused was booked under IPC’s section 304 (punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and sent to jail.

Government Railway Police SHO Piyush Dikshit told TOI, “The accused, a resident of Rajapatti village in Azamgarh district of UP, has been arrested and sent to jail.”

The woman was travelling from Punjab to Bihar to celebrate Chhath festival when she got into an argument with Yadav somewhere between Bareilly and Shahjahanpur junctions. She was accompanied by two of her sons, both in their twenties, who tried to rush to their mother’s aid during the scuffle but were unable to navigate their way to her as the coach was packed.

The victim, a resident of Rohtas district in Bihar, worked in a private factory in Jalandhar. On Friday evening, she boarded the train with her sons Rahul, Ranjeet and daughter-in-law Babita. While the two men occupied some space near the door of the crowded compartment, Chinta Devi and Babita were seated inside. Yadav, their copassenger, lit several cigarettes during the night despite objections from passengers. In the early hours of Saturday, when he tried to smoke another cigarette, Chinta Devi asked him to stop smoking.

Angered at this, Yadav allegedly pushed her and then kicked her several times, making her lose consciousness. Some passengers then caught hold of Yadav and thrashed him. One of the sons pulled the chain and informed a guard about the incident.

The train was stopped at Shahjahanpur where the accused was taken into custody and the victim was taken to hospital where doctors declared her dead.

Doctors said that the woman had broken rib, bones and ruptured heart.