“Whenever I sit somewhere, I see my daughter’s face,” says Sitaram Sharma, wiping his tears. “I had to carry her body on my shoulders. Do you know the pain of lifting your own daughter’s dead body?”
Sitaram Sharma lost his 41-year-old daughter, Pinky Sharma, in the stampede at New Delhi Railway Station on February 15. She had left home, excited, with 12 family members to attend the Mahakumbh in Prayagraj. But instead of returning with sacred memories, her family came back carrying her lifeless body. Pinky leaves behind two children—a 13-year-old daughter and a 10-year-old son. Her tragic death has raised urgent concerns about safety and crowd management at railway stations.
The stampede, which took place on platforms 14 and 15, claimed 18 lives and left 14 others seriously injured. Many of the victims were women and children.
Pinky Sharma, a resident of Sangam Vihar, was at the station with her family when chaos broke out. Her sister-in-law, Seema Sharma, recalls the terrifying moments: “We were stepping onto the platform when suddenly people started pushing from behind. Before we could understand what was happening, we lost our balance and fell.”
Seema says Pinky’s husband and other male relatives managed to pull some women out of the crowd, but Pinky was missing. “We thought she must be safe somewhere, but the crowd was uncontrollable. We couldn’t go back. Later, when Pinky’s husband finally reached the spot, he found her lifeless body—she had been crushed in the stampede.”
Sarita Sharma, another sister-in-law, describes their desperate attempts to revive her. “We tried giving her CPR, but it didn’t work. There was foam in her mouth. Her children and I were rubbing her hands, begging her to wake up,” she says.
The family is devastated and angry. “Where was the administration? Not a single official was there,” Sarita says. “Now they are putting up ropes and safety measures—but why not before the tragedy? Will our sister return?”
Kundan Sharma, another relative, blames the mismanagement at the station for the disaster. “Now who will take care of her kids? Do poor people’s lives not matter?” he asks.
The family also claims that the police arrived late, and the station was already overcrowded before the tragedy unfolded. Thousands of passengers had gathered on platforms 14 and 15 to board a train to Prayagraj, leading to the deadly rush.
The government has announced compensation for the victims’ families—₹10 lakh for each deceased, ₹2.5 lakh for the seriously injured, and ₹1 lakh for those with minor injuries.
Reports suggest that between 6 PM and 8 PM on February 15, more than 9,600 general tickets were sold at the station—far exceeding the usual count of 7,000 for an entire day. Normally, only 2,600 tickets are sold in that two-hour window.
A railway official admitted to the media that had authorities monitored ticket sales and planned accordingly, the disaster could have been prevented.
