Subarna Mukherjee recounts her experience on a Mumbai local from her hospital bed in Calcutta. Picture by Amit Datta

A Calcutta girl was pushed off a moving local train in Mumbai on Saturday by cellphone snatchers. The 18-year-old returned to her hometown on Sunday with a broken jaw and signs of mental trauma.

Subarna Mukherjee, a first-year student of St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, fell face first on one of the platforms at Mumbai Central.

Luckily for her, the train was not travelling at speed when she was shoved out of the crowded ladies’ compartment.

The incident occurred just after the train had slowed down to enter Mumbai Central and Subarna had elbowed her way towards the door. “I noticed a woman blocking my way. Someone else then snatched my cellphone and pushed me. Everything happened in a flash,” the ex-student of La Martiniere School for Girls told Metro hours after arriving from Mumbai and being admitted to Woodlands Hospital.

Subarna was unconscious for half-an-hour before being able to mumble her father’s cellphone number to the Government Railway Police (GRP) team that was taking her to a private hospital. Gautam Mukherjee, a businessman, had reached Mumbai that morning on work when the cops called about his daughter.

“I was in a business meeting when the caller informed me about the accident,” he said.

Mukherjee, a resident of Jadavpur, decided to bring his daughter to Calcutta after a CT scan revealed that she had multiple jaw fractures and would need surgery. Father and daughter took a flight out of Mumbai on Sunday morning.

“Her fractured lower jaw needs a plate to support it. She also requires neurological support for trauma,” said Debadeep Chakravarty, the oral and maxillofacial surgeon treating her.

The GRP authorities in Mumbai said no inquiry was instituted because Subarna’s father had not filed a complaint.

Subarna, who passed her Class XII examinations from La Martiniere, took admission in St Xavier’s College, Mumbai, in June to study economics, statistics and mathematics. Commuting by local train — those in Mumbai are notorious for overcrowding and instances of snatching — was alien to her.

Subarna had boarded the local train from Church Gate station around 2.35pm on Saturday. “It was crowded, as always. After 10 minutes, when the train reached Grant Road station, my roommate called to know when I would reach Mumbai Central, where she was to wait for me,” the teenager recalled.

Subarna’s mother Krishna, who was informed about the accident late in the evening, said she spent a sleepless night. “My heart stopped beating for a moment.”

Her daughter will have to miss her first semester examinations, starting early next month.

Subarna’s doctor said she would need at least another six weeks to get back to normal. “She will need to spend at least a week in hospital and another five resting at home.”

The recovery period could actually be longer because doctors have said Subarna would not be allowed solid food for a couple of months, her mother added.

The Mukherjees will escort their daughter back to Mumbai in November, though chances are she will not take another local train in a hurry.

“Her mother will stay with her for some time in Mumbai,” Gautam Mukherjee said.