A 55-year-old woman died after reportedly falling through an opening inside a disused room at Chennai’s Mylapore MRTS station, with her body remaining undiscovered for four days, according to police. Investigators said the fall from the station’s upper floor caused fatal injuries and found no immediate evidence of foul play.
The woman, identified as Vijaya, wife of Venkatesan, lived in Balaji Nagar, Pallikaranai. She had boarded a Velachery–Chennai Beach-bound train with her daughter, Gayathri, on October 8 to visit the Government Multi-Specialty Hospital at Omandurar Estate in Chepauk.
During the journey, Vijaya reportedly complained of severe stomach pain and told her daughter that she needed to use a restroom. The two got off at Mylapore MRTS station. While her daughter waited, Vijaya entered an upper-floor room that police described as disused. Gayathri did not see where her mother had gone and later filed a missing-person complaint with Mylapore police when she failed to return.
The body was found on Monday after commuters alerted railway staff about a foul smell coming from the ground floor. Railway staff informed the Government Railway Police, who inspected an abandoned room measuring about 10ft by 10ft. The room contained old furniture, broken wooden desks and damaged steel chairs. After moving the items, investigators found Vijaya’s decomposed body.
Police suspect that Vijaya entered the upper-floor room while attempting to relieve herself and fell through an opening approximately 1.5ft wide. The room below reportedly had a similar opening and was being used to store discarded furniture. Investigators believe she fell through the openings and landed on the ground floor, a drop of about 60ft.
Assistant Commissioner of Police Kavinna, attached to the Government Railway Police at Chennai Egmore, said the postmortem findings indicated no foul play. Police said forensic findings pointed to instant death from the fall. The body was sent to Government Royapettah Hospital for postmortem examination before being handed over to the family on Tuesday.
The case has been registered by GRP Inspector Rajkumar under Section 194 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita in connection with the unnatural death. Mylapore police transferred the missing-person case to the Thiruvanmiyur railway police for further investigation.
The incident has also highlighted the consequences of inaccessible and poorly maintained spaces inside a functioning suburban rail station. The reported presence of open floor gaps, abandoned rooms and discarded furniture raises questions about how unused station areas are secured and whether passengers can distinguish restricted spaces from facilities they may reasonably believe are accessible. The police investigation and railway authorities’ response will establish the circumstances surrounding the fall and the station’s safety responsibilities.
