Chennai: Woman, 60, stranded with dead cousin; cop lends helping hand

CHENNAI: Even a loud wail of an elderly woman, that too at 5am on Tuesday, failed to evoke any response at MGR Chennai Central railway station which was bustling with passengers and visitors.
It was left to a woman head constable to rush to the rescue of the elderly woman after nearly 30 minutes.
M Leela Shree, 43, a head constable at Periamet police station, was on patrol with a police driver near EMU section of the Central railway station when she found a middle aged man lying unconscious and the elderly woman wailing not knowing what to do.
When Leela checked him she found he was dead. Though Leela Shree sought the public's help to lift the body, none came forward to lend a help. She had to lift the body with the help of a constable and put it on the stretcher.
Inquiries with the woman revealed that she was Kumari, 60 from Vanganur, Tiruttani. She had come with her cousin Ramesh, 42, to visit a guest in Arumbakkam. The two were returning to Tiruttani and were on their way to board a train when the incident happened.
Ramesh, who purchased a ticket, developed complications and collapsed while he was on his way to the EMU train section. A first aid could have actually saved him but none at the busy station even bothered to come near her. “It was difficult to lift him," said Leela Shree.
Leela Shree booked an ambulance and sent the body to their hometown and consoled the elderly woman, who was in a state of shock.
"It would have taken just a minute for the public to ask her what had happened and save a life,” says Leela Shree.
“I know the value of life as I recently lost my husband to cancer,” she said. The video of her lifting the dead body went viral on social media where wishes poured in for the woman cop.