A 16-year-old girl, who had left for school early on Tuesday, was found dead beside the railway tracks near Argora station in the state capital.

According to Government Railway Police, Ashwini Sahu, a Class X student of DAV-Alok who lived with her younger sister in a rented house at Argora Housing Colony, was hit by a speeding train.

Although the GRP has registered a case of accident at Ranchi junction, it isn’t clear what Ashwini was doing near the railway line as her school, which is in Pundag, is in the opposite direction.

The girl’s parents and younger brother live at Chandwa in Latehar district.

“Around 7am today (Tuesday), we received information that a girl was lying dead beside railway tracks near Dibdih. We rushed to the spot. The victim was in her school uniform. We ascertained her identity through her school ID and informed her family,” said a police officer at GRP-Ranchi.

He added that the girl seemed to have sustained only head injuries as no other wounds were on her body. “This suggests that her head somehow came in contact with the running train,” he said.

The girl’s maternal uncle, Sanjay Sahu, who runs a grocery shop at Kudu in Ranchi, came to know about the death around 8am. “Someone had called up Ashwini’s father Manoj Sahu. Manoj contacted one of his brothers in Odisha, who informed me,” he said.

Sanjay, who agreed the teen was on her way to school when tragedy struck, was equally puzzled. Asked how she reached near the tracks, he said: “It’s a mystery. Her school is in the opposite direction.”

Ashwini’s father is a farmer and mother Vibha Devi a para-teacher. Sister Dimple with whom she lived is a Class VI student of DAV-Pundag, while brother Harsh studies in Class I in DAV-Chandwa.

Principal of DAV-Alok Ashok Kumar recalled Ashwini as a bright student. “We are shocked to hear the news.”