New details have emerged in the case of Malaika Chitre and her Nepalese-origin friend, Navam Kaul, who were killed after being struck by a subway train in New York City, United States, earlier this week.
The two were reportedly seen embracing moments before they were struck by the train. Seeing him in distress, Chitre reportedly climbed down onto the tracks to help him. The NYP report stated that the train operator did not have enough time to apply the brakes and prevent the collision. The duo were longtime friends who grew up in similar bucolic corners of Central Jersey suburbia, just a few miles apart, the report added.
A report by the New York Post, citing sources, said the duo were hugging and kissing on the platform shortly before the tragedy. Kaul appeared to lose his balance and fall onto the tracks, hitting his head in the process, according to sources cited in the report. Investigators, meanwhile, do not believe the incident was a case of double suicide, according to the sources cited by the New York Post. Kaul’s childhood friend’s father, Rajnikant Pipalia, noted that he and Chitre grew up in “the same world” and were both part of the same South Asian social group, the report added. Another report in the Daily Mail said that Kaul grew up in Sayreville, New Jersey, where his parents had moved from Nepal about three decades ago.
The footage and witness accounts are now part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding their deaths.
A purported CCTV footage also captured both of them sitting on the tracks shortly before the train arrived.
