The Indian Railways faced severe backlash on social media when an image of a board on the Hatia-Ernakulam Express train with the Malayalam translation of “Hatia” as “Kolapathakam” (murderer) went viral.

The photo of the board quickly spread across social platforms, leading to widespread criticism.

According to a railway official, the mistake occurred due to confusion surrounding the Hindi word “Hatya,” which means “murder.”

Taking prompt action, railway authorities covered the Malayalam word with yellow paint.

It is worth noting that Hatia is a location in Ranchi, and the Hatia-Ernakulam Express runs between these two cities on a weekly basis. Sharing the photo of the nameplate on a microblogging site, one user humorously commented, “Shhhh, nobody tell them.”

Another user, while responding to the post, wrote, “Too much reliance on Google Translate.”

Acknowledging the translation error caused by confusion between the words ‘Hatia’ and the Hindi term ‘Hatya’ (murder), the Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (Sr DCM) of Ranchi Division admitted that a mistake had been made during the translation process.

He further explained that the incorrect nameplate was rectified as soon as the error was brought to their attention.