A 20-year-old college student from Assam was found dead near railway tracks in Andhra Pradesh after telling her family that she felt unsafe in a train coach surrounded by inebriated men, prompting an investigation by railway and police authorities into the circumstances of her death.
Himashri Boro, a resident of Bonda in Assam’s Kamrup Metropolitan district, had travelled to Visakhapatnam with a dance troupe for a competition. She was returning alone ahead of the other members because she had an examination scheduled in Guwahati, according to her family.
The Northeast Frontier Railway said Boro boarded Train No. 22503 at Visakhapatnam around 12.15am on October 6. CCTV footage showed her entering the S-2 coach with a general ticket. A local acquaintance, identified by the railway as Avinash, had accompanied her to the station.
After boarding, Boro called her sister-in-law and another friend, saying that she was uncomfortable with the atmosphere inside the coach. Her sister-in-law told the Times of India that Boro described being surrounded by inebriated men and feeling unsafe. Boro also shared a video of the coach with a friend. The video has become part of the account of her final known communication, although the circumstances of her death have not yet been established.
The family said it lost contact with Boro between 2.30am and 3am and subsequently alerted the railway helpline. The NFR confirmed that it received a complaint through the Rail Madad portal on October 6 about alleged misbehaviour with a woman passenger on the train.
According to the railway, an assistant sub-inspector of the Railway Protection Force and other personnel attended to the complaint at Srikakulam Road station. They searched the general and sleeper coaches but could not locate Boro. Her family said it did not receive subsequent confirmation that she had been found or was safe. The family also said her two bags were later found intact inside the coach.
The RPF subsequently found Boro’s body between the Ponduru and Dusi railway sections in Andhra Pradesh’s Srikakulam district. The Government Railway Police shifted it to Government RIMS Hospital in Srikakulam for an inquest and autopsy. The railway has said that a preliminary GRP inquiry in Palasa prima facie suggested that Boro might have fallen from a moving train, while her family has alleged murder and accused the RPF of negligence.
Authorities are recording statements from passengers and from the person who accompanied Boro to the station. CCTV footage from Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam is also being examined. The RPF and GRP are coordinating with police authorities in Assam and Andhra Pradesh as the investigation continues.
The case has highlighted the operational challenge of responding to a passenger-safety complaint after a train has departed. The railway’s account records that personnel searched the coaches at Srikakulam Road but did not trace Boro, while the family says it was not told whether she had been located or was safe. Establishing the timing of the complaint, the intervention at the station, the subsequent movement of the train and the point at which Boro may have left the coach will be central to the inquiry.
Dimoria MLA Tapan Das said the Assam government would facilitate the return of Boro’s body after the autopsy. He said officials were coordinating the arrangements because there were no direct flights to Guwahati. The investigation remains underway, and authorities have not yet established the sequence of events leading to her death.
