Toddler tries to wake up dead mother at Bihar railway station brings out hardships of migrant worker

New Delhi, May 27: The Railways on Wednesday defended its handling of migrant specials after a heart-rending video surfaced online showing a toddler attempting to wake up his dead mother, who boarded a train at Gujarat's Ahmedabad but could never reach her destination in Muzaffarpur, from eternal sleep on a platform in Bihar. While the Railways claimed the 35-year-old died of a pre-existing heart condition, Aam Aadmi Party's Sanjay Singh said the claim is a "lie".

The video appeared online Wednesday and captures one of the most poignant pictures of the massive migrant crisis unfolding across several states. It shows a toddler trying -- and failing -- to wake her mother up who lay dead on the platform, a blanket placed over the body untidily.

As the video went viral on social media, the Railways, already facing criticism over its handling of Shramik Specials, found itself in the dock for delayed trains and subsequent shortage of food and water for the migrants, the situation of poor travellers aggravated by May temperatures shooting through the roof.