Last Updated:February 01, 2026, 11:20 IST
The incident took place when Mahendra Bhardwaj was travelling from Kota to Jaipur on the Kota-Shri Ganganagar Express.
For Mahendra Bhardwaj, media advisor to former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje, a simple train journey turned into a harrowing experience when he got stuck in a train bathroom for nearly an hour when the latch refused to open. He shared the upsetting experience in a post on Facebook.
According to his post, the incident took place on Friday, January 30, when he was travelling from Kota to Jaipur on the Kota-Shri Ganganagar Express. Shortly after passing Sawai Madhopur, he went to the bathroom but when he tried to step out, the door latch malfunctioned and he found himself trapped.
In his Facebook post, Bhardwaj urged, “Train ke bathroom mein mobile avashya le jayein, warna kabhi aap bhi meri tarah… ek badi musibat se rubaru ho sakte Hain…!! (Always carry your mobile in the train bathroom, otherwise you could also face a huge trouble like I did)."
Bhardwaj mentioned how when he tried to come out of the bathroom, the door latch inside got stuck.
He explained how he first tried opening the latch himself. “Maine tamaam koshishen ki, par sari asafal. Badbu ke maare dam ghutne laga. Maine kai baar chillaya bhi, lekin kisi ko meri aawaz nahi suni di (I tried everything but all efforts failed. The stench made it hard to breathe. I shouted several times but no one could hear me)," Bhardwaj wrote.
Realising he needed help, he called his cousin brother Harish Sharma and his son Divyansh. They advised him to contact the railway helpline and did the same themselves as well. But even after multiple calls, there was no immediate solution. As minutes passed, Bhardwaj admitted he felt “dheere dheere avsad ki taraf ja raha tha (slowly slipping into panic and despair)."
“Train mein bathroom 2 feet by 2 feet se bhi chhota. Matlab itna chhota ki vyakti acche se hil-dul bhi nahi sake (The bathroom in the train was even smaller than 2 feet by 2 feet. It was so tiny that a person couldn’t even move properly)," his post mentioned.
Finally, Harish called back to inform Bhardwaj that railway officials had been alerted and a technician or engineer was on the way. When the railway staff arrived, they tried opening the door for 10 minutes but were unsuccessful.
Meanwhile, his son Divyansh kept calling repeatedly, asking, “Door khula ya nahi, papa? (Is the door open, dad?)"
The railway staff then informed Bhardwaj that the only option left was to break the door but this carried a serious risk of injury.
“Maine kaha, todo, warna dum ghutne se meri maut ho jaayegi (I said, break it open, otherwise I will die due to suffocation)," he wrote.
Showing incredible presence of mind, Bhardwaj braced the door from the inside. “Maine door ke dono haath laga diye, taki mere haath door ko thaam sake aur vo mere sir par gire nahi (I placed both my hands on the door so that it wouldn’t fall on my head)," he added.
The door was eventually forced open with hammers from outside which left Bhardwaj injured but he was finally free from the badly smelling, suffocating bathroom. The entire ordeal lasted 58 minutes. In his post, he also shared a video that shows Bhardwaj struggling to open the stuck latch.
His post caught significant attention online where viewers shared varied opinions.
One user sarcastically commented, “Welcome to Indian Railways. Aapko toilet mein bhi aram karwaya ja sakta hai (They even make you comfortable in the toilet)."
Another said, “Ye kitna jyada khatarnak hai. Aisi vyavastha mein safar kar rahe hai log? (How dangerous is this! People are traveling in such arrangements?)"
“The reality of Indian Railways has been exposed. Today, when such a big celebrity got stuck, it became news. If an ordinary person gets stuck, no one even bothers to report it," someone else remarked.
“Har jagah kuch na kuch khamiyan hai sirf kiraya badhane par focus (There are flaws everywhere but the focus is still only on increasing fares),"’ a person added.
Speaking to Dainik Bhaskar, Bhardwaj advised travellers to always carry their mobile phones when using train bathrooms so they can call for help in case of an emergency. He also mentioned about the need for the railways to improve toilet facilities in older coaches to prevent similar incidents from happening in the future.
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