Indian-origin woman, friend killed by New York subway train may have been drunk, sources say
A tragic subway incident in lower Manhattan resulted in the deaths of Malaika Chitre, an Indian-origin woman, and Navam Kaul, a Nepali-American man, both 24
A tragic New York Subway incident resulted in the deaths of Malaika Chitre, an Indian-origin woman, and Navam Kaul, a Nepali-American man, both 24 and recent Rutgers University graduates. They were struck and killed by train No. 4 in lower Manhattan early Sunday morning after reportedly being found sitting on the tracks. Police are investigating the circumstances, including the potential role of intoxication, and have found no suicide notes. The incident has deeply affected their friends and family, who described them as part of a close-knit South Asian community.
A tragic New York Subway incident resulted in the deaths of Malaika Chitre, an Indian-origin woman, and Navam Kaul, a Nepali-American man, both 24 and recent Rutgers University graduates. They were struck and killed by train No. 4 in lower Manhattan early Sunday morning after reportedly being found sitting on the tracks. Police are investigating the circumstances, including the potential role of intoxication, and have found no suicide notes. The incident has deeply affected their friends and family, who described them as part of a close-knit South Asian community.
A tragic New York Subway incident resulted in the deaths of Malaika Chitre, an Indian-origin woman, and Navam Kaul, a Nepali-American man, both 24 and recent Rutgers University graduates. They were struck and killed by train No. 4 in lower Manhattan early Sunday morning after reportedly being found sitting on the tracks. Police are investigating the circumstances, including the potential role of intoxication, and have found no suicide notes. The incident has deeply affected their friends and family, who described them as part of a close-knit South Asian community.
An Indian origin woman and her friend, a Nepali-American man, both died after being rammed by a New York Subway train after they were spotted sitting on the tracks in lower Manhattan on Sunday.
Sources said that the pair, identified as 24-year-old Malaika Chitre and Navam Kaul, also 24, were reportedly inebriated when train No. 4 struck them at about 3:14 am.
Chitre was from Dayton, and Kaul hailed from Sayreville. They both graduated from Rutgers University in 2024.
Police officers who responded to the report said that the two were sitting directly on the roadbed when they were hit. Both individuals were pronounced dead at the scene.
According to the New York Daily News, one of them fell off the platform, and the other one was trying to help.
A video of the incident posted on social media shows Chitrewas laughing and pulling Kaul towards her when they were run over
Police sources said that they were trying to determine if alcohol was involved. There were no suicide notes found.
The train operator told supervisors that she “saw a man and woman sitting on the track” before the train was unable to slow down and came in contact with the pair. About 100 passengers were taken off the trains and moved to the platform, NY Daily News reported.
One of Kaul’s friends’ mothers, Rajnikant Pipalia, told the New York Post that they were part of the same south asian friend circle. “They grew up in the same world,” “They’re all part of the same friends circle, the same South Asian group hanging out together, enjoying the same festivals.”
“They all did college very well, studied, moved on to Fortune 500 companies,” Pipalia said. Kaul’s parents immigrated to the US about 30 years ago.
According to their LinkedIn accounts, Chitre worked as an operations specialist at Acadia Pharmaceuticals and was pursuing a Doctor of Pharmacy degree at Temple University, and Kaul was a financial data analyst at Bloomberg. He was a contract worker and ended the job in May.