DAV College student held for mishap that killed teen girl in Chandigarh’s Dhanas

The 21-year-old student was driving the Tata Nexon that had hit the victim, Lavanya, a resident of Nayagaon, while she was crossing the road near Botanical Garden in Dhanas on Tuesday

The 21-year-old driver of the SUV that claimed the life of a 15-year-old girl near Botanical Garden, Dhanas, on Tuesday, was arrested on Thursday, police said.

The accused driver, Surbhi, 21, hails from Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, and is presently staying at Omaxe City, New Chandigarh. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

The accused driver, Surbhi, 21, hails from Baddi, Himachal Pradesh, and is presently staying at Omaxe City, New Chandigarh.

She was driving the Tata Nexon that had hit the victim, Lavanya, a resident of Nayagaon, while she was crossing the road near the garden on Tuesday.

According to police, Surbhi is a second-year student of MA at DAV College, Sector 10, Chandigarh. She was immediately granted bail.

Lavanya had gone to meet her friend and was crossing the road when she was hit by Surbhi’s car. The teenager was tossed up in the air, before she crashed on the windshield of the vehicle. She had suffered severe head injuries, a broken spinal cord and a damaged eye, and had succumbed to her injuries at PGIMER on Wednesday.

An eyewitness had informed the police that the SUV driver did not blow the horn and hit the girl while she was crossing the road.

Police said Surbhi had taken the victim to the hospital after the accident.

Before her arrest, on Thursday morning, Lavanya’s family members and relatives a held a protest outside the Sarangpur police station, accusing police of deliberately delaying the accused’s arrest, .

Victim wanted to donate her eyes

Lavanya, a student of the Sector-44 government school, had pledged to donate her eyes a few years back, but her eyes were damaged in the accident, according to her mother, Nancy, who is employed privately.

“She wanted to be an officer and was a very sincere child,” said the distraught mother.

Lavanya is survived by her mother and a 10-year-old brother. Her father lives separately.