A man jumped off a moving train near West Bengal's Rajabhatkhawa area with his family after a group of drunken co-passengers allegedly molested his wife and attempted to gangrape her in a general compartment on Tuesday night.

Ashabul, 32, jumped off the Mahananda Express in a jungle with his wife, 25, and 10-month-old daughter, PTI reported quoting railway police on Wednesday.

The Rajabhatkhawa forest officials spotted them and informed the railway police, which admitted the family to the Alipurduar Railway hospital. The woman is reported to have suffered multiple injuries and is in a serious condition.

The railway police have started investigations against the group of 10 to 12 men who have been accused of molesting and attempting to gangrape the woman.

"An enquiry has been started and a manhunt to nab the culprits has been launched with the help of local police," the Hindustan Times quoted additional security commissioner of Railway Protection Force (RPF) Mukul Chandra Medhi as saying.

The couple, along with their daughter, had boarded the train at Ghaziabad and were on their way to hometown Dinhata in Coochbehar district.

Ashabul alleged that the men were harassing his wife ever since they boarded the train. However, the situation became tense after most of the passengers in the compartment got down at Siliguri. The couple alleged that the men threatened to tie up the husband and gangrape his wife.

"After most of the passengers in the general compartment disembarked at Siliguri, the passengers became more aggressive," the husband said, according to the police.

The couple told the police that they informed the guard about the harassment after getting down at New Hasimara railway station. But the guard asked them to file a complaint at the next station, Alipurduar. 

When the couple returned to the compartment, the co-passengers had become even more hostile. 

"We jumped out of the running train out of fear," the woman told police in her complaint.