Published Sep 02, 2026 | 5:47 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 02, 2026 | 5:47 PM
Jayasmitha was forced to deboard at Aluva.
Synopsis: Despite purchasing a valid ticket, Jayasmitha was forced to deboard and was subsequently arrested after another person cancelled the ticket online. The Railways had entered the mobile number incorrectly and sent a booking confirmation message to an unrelated person, who then cancelled the ticket. The woman was forced to deboard en route her destination, and was arrested for ticketless travel.
The Kerala State Human Rights Commission has directed the Indian Railways to pay ₹2 lakh compensation to a woman passenger, who was allegedly forced to deboard a train at midnight despite holding a valid reservation ticket, and subsequently arrested by the Railway Protection Force (RPF).
Commission Chairperson Justice Alexander Thomas ordered that the compensation be paid to K Jayasmitha, a native of Erumapetti in Thrissur, now living in Thiruvananthapuram, within one month.
The Southern Railway Divisional Manager may subsequently recover the amount from officials found responsible after conducting an inquiry.
The incident occurred on 30 July 2023, when Jayasmitha was travelling from Vadakkanchery to Thiruvananthapuram on Train No. 16348.
She found that her allotted berth, No. 41 in the S4 coach, had been assigned to another passenger.
According to her complaint, the Travelling Ticket Examiner (TTE) informed her that her ticket had been cancelled online.
Jayasmitha maintained that she had purchased the ticket directly at the station counter and questioned how it could have been cancelled online without her knowledge or consent.
The TTE allegedly offered to allot another berth if she paid a ₹500 fine.
As she did not have the amount in cash, she sought details regarding the cancellation of her ticket but was not provided any information, the complaint said.
When the train reached Aluva, she was handed over to the RPF. She was arrested and later released on bail.
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She also alleged misbehaviour by the officials.
The Railways subsequently withdrew the case after finding that it had been wrongly registered.
A later inquiry by the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager found that one of the mobile numbers provided in the reservation form had been changed on the booking system. The ticket reservation message was sent to the altered number, and the person who received it cancelled the ticket online.
However, Jayasmitha contended that she had correctly entered her mobile number in the reservation form and that the error had occurred at the booking counter.
Justice Thomas observed that forcing a woman travelling alone to get off a train in the middle of the night was wrongful and amounted to violations of Sections 137 and 139 of the Railways Act. The Commission also found that the incident violated her constitutional and human right to live with dignity.
Jayasmitha informed the Commission that she lost her contractual government job after the RPF registered a criminal case against her. The Commission directed her to submit an application to the government in this regard and asked the Director of the Minority Welfare Department to decide on it within one month.
The order further stated that if the compensation is not paid within six weeks, the Railways will have to pay interest at 8 per cent.
