As per new directives issued by Government Railway Police (GRP), anyone performing the daredevil stunt of taking out a selfie ahead of a moving train could be arrested and served with a jail term of up to 1 year.
GRP has issued orders to officials to book all selfie-takers under sections for not only attempting to commit suicide but also putting the lives of others in danger. The order has been issued to arrest all selfie-takers near trains on the platform, at the doors of the compartments or while on the railway tracks.
Selfie mania has taken the world by storm. Some may be entirely harmless while some put both life and limb at stake. Recent incidents at Indian Railway stations or across railway tracks that resulted in death and severe life-threatening injuries are the reason for this new order. In January 2015, three students were killed as they posed for a selfie ahead of a speeding train near unmanned crossing near Kosi Kalan.
On April 15, three 3 boys and a man died in the process of taking out a selfie near the railway track. The incident occurred in Mirzapur and Saharanpur districts. The boys, aged 18 and 20 attempted to take out a selfie near the railway track.
They were hit by Brahmaputra Mail travelling from New Delhi to Dibrugarh, a 45-year-old passenger watching the two boys also lost his life mowed down by the train. A 16-year-old Kartik Kakkar of Rainbow School in Saharanpur also met with the same fate when he tried to take out a selfie at Chunhati unmanned railway crossing.