MUMBAI: An uncommon display of solidarity unfolded at Sion Hospital on Thursday, where the family of a man accused of repeatedly stabbing his neighbour in a moving train stood shoulder to shoulder with the victim’s relatives.
The attack took place on Tuesday morning when, according to police, Rajesh Arunvihari (21) allegedly assaulted Siraj Shaikh (24) with a knife inside a CSMT–Panvel local train near Vashi station in Navi Mumbai. Shaikh sustained injuries to his neck, chest and back.
Two days later, Arunvihari remains absconding after reportedly jumping off the moving train to escape. Shaikh was initially taken to NMMC Hospital in Vashi before being shifted to Sion Hospital, where doctors confirmed on Thursday that he is out of danger.
What followed the violence surprised many: both families, who have lived next to each other for years in Cheetah Camp, came together at the hospital, still struggling to understand what triggered the sudden attack. Even Shaikh, relatives said, could not explain the motive.
“We have never quarrelled. We have been neighbours for decades,” said Rajalaxmi Rajendran, Arunvihari’s mother.
The Vashi Government Railway Police registered an FIR for attempt to murder and formed three teams to trace the accused.
Rajendran said her son had been battling addiction for several years. “We are sure about alcohol,” she said, adding that the family had also noticed him consuming a white powder. In an effort to help, he was admitted to a private de-addiction centre in Virar a few months ago. He returned home in November and later found work as a sanitation worker in Sanpada.
Shaikh’s brother claimed that Arunvihari was known in the locality for stalking a woman, behaviour residents attributed to mental health issues. Senior inspector Kiran Undre of Vashi GRP said the victim told police that Arunvihari had earlier been involved in an altercation with a woman in the neighbourhood, during which Shaikh’s brother intervened in her support. “He may have held a grudge and attacked Siraj on the local train,” Undre said.
Mubarak Khan, a colleague who was travelling with Shaikh at the time, said Arunvihari had been seen around the station and inside the train with them in the days leading up to the incident. “We were scrolling on our phones when it happened. There was no argument beforehand,” Khan said.
