Thiruvananthapuram: On February 1, 2011, a 23-year-old woman named Soumya was attacked by a criminal named Govindachami while she was traveling in an Ernakulam-Shornur passenger train.
Govindachami pushed her off the moving train, followed her, and then raped and killed her. Sumia died of her injuries five days later. The trial court sentenced the Govindachys to death, but the Supreme Court later commuted the sentence to life imprisonment, citing a lack of conclusive evidence.
On November 2, 2025, a 19-year-old woman named Srekuti was critically injured after she was hit by a train near Varkala. She was traveling in the general compartment of the Kerala Express with her friend when a drunken man, Suresh Kumar, threw her out of the train.
The incident has once again raised serious concerns about the safety of passengers, especially women traveling in shared compartments. Despite periodic episodes of such gruesome incidents, women passengers continue to remain vulnerable to such attacks.
Sumiya’s mother, Sumathi, says brief checks were carried out in the compartment after her daughter’s tragic death, but those efforts were short-lived.
“Women and girls are not safe on trains. Even the ladies and general compartments lack adequate safety measures. I always pray that what happened to Soumya does not happen to anyone else,” she says.
To ensure the safety of women passengers across the state, the Railway Protection Force and Central Railway Police jointly launched ‘Operation Rakshit’ on Friday. As part of the campaign, 72 cases were registered across the state.
Many passengers signed up to board trains while intoxicated. The detainees were later released after completing legal formalities. However, they were not allowed to continue their journey.
The operation will be conducted in Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam, Palakkad and Kozhikode zones. Women police officers and other personnel will conduct intensive patrolling in trains and platforms with special attention to compartments carrying large number of women passengers.
Many believe that these actions are few. After Soumya’s murder, the Railway Protection Force (RPF) and the Main Railway Police (GRP) suggested nine measures; deploying additional security personnel at stations, assigning more police to women’s compartments from 16:00 to 12:00 on most trains, placing women’s compartments in the front or middle of the train, well-posting emergency phone numbers in women’s compartments, training engineering security and support staff in security aspects, and ensuring internal communications between women’s compartments and other carriages.
However, many of these measures remain only on paper.
At present, the Thiruvananthapuram and Palakkad railway divisions operate 265 trains daily, including 156 express trains and 109 passenger trains.
Shoranur Ernakulam and Palakkad – Thiruvananthapuram routes are among the busiest corridors.
These trains handle 8 to 10 lakh passengers daily. Of these, 25 to 35 per cent are women, which means around 2-3.5 lakh women commuters across the state, both in reserved and unreserved categories.
Shortage of personnel is one of the major challenges faced by the Railway Police (RPF) and Main Railway Police (GRP). Southern Railway covering the state of Kerala currently has more than 13,977 vacancies.
Meanwhile, railway authorities say safety is being given top priority through initiatives like Meri Saheli. RPF personnel have gone the extra mile, paying special attention to the safety of female passengers, especially those traveling alone.
At five major stations in Palakkad division, the RPF has deployed teams to identify lone women travellers. These women are taught safety measures and precautions when traveling alone.
Authorities are also promoting the Rail Madad Helpline (139) and digital redressal platforms such as Instagram and the Centralized Community Grievance Redressal and Monitoring System (CPGRAMS).
A total of 64 women RPF personnel have been deputed for the mission, with an average of 11 officers attending the assigned trains daily. Each day they interact with approximately 230 single passengers. In 2025 alone, the initiative benefited 37,376 women passengers and was widely appreciated.
Mixed teams of RPF equipped with body-worn cameras, joint patrolling by RPF and GRP during peak hours and increased surprise checks in women’s coaches are some of the other measures that have been implemented.
Despite the Railways’ claims of effective safety systems, much more needs to be done on a priority basis to ensure the safety and security of women passengers on the Thiruvananthapuram – Palakkad divisions.
