Groom-to-be, expectant father killed as bus overturns in Delhi's Karol Bagh

A bus crash in Delhi killed Mahesh Kumar, 23, and Shehbaz Alam, 30, disrupting their joyful homecomings. The driver, accused of overspeeding, is in custody.

What was meant to be a joyful homecoming turned into a nightmare for the family members of Mahesh Kumar and Shehbaz Alam, as the former was getting married next month while the latter returning home to meet his pregnant wife.

Both men were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital after the crash, where they succumbed to their injuries the same night. (Sanchit Khanna/Hindustan Times)

Mahesh, 23, a resident of Bareilly and Alam, 30, from Bijnor, died in a late-night bus crash in Karol Bagh, Delhi. Mahesh, a daily-wage labourer whose wedding was scheduled for April 20, had boarded the Jaipur-Delhi sleeper bus with his brother Mukesh from Bilaspur, Haryana, around 11.30pm.

“We told the driver to slow down, but he didn’t listen,” Mukesh said while waiting outside Ram Manohar Lohia hospital mortuary. “My brother was sitting in the rear seat… when the bus overturned, he came under it,” he said, adding that their family had been preparing for the wedding, with relatives invited and arrangements underway. “He (Mahesh) was going home for his own wedding... everything is over now,” Mukesh said. They had paid a modest fare of ₹100 for the journey.

For Alam, the trip was tied to family and faith. A garment shop owner from Dhampur in Bijnor, Alam, had travelled to Jaipur with friends and relatives. “He was a family-oriented person,” his cousin Mohammed Farhan, 25, said. “He was married last year.” Alam left behind his three-month pregnant wife. “He was excited about becoming a father,” Farhan said.

Both men were taken to Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital after the crash, where they succumbed to their injuries the same night.

Among the injured, Anamika Tiwari, 25, a resident of Noida, who had gone for a pilgrimage to Khatu Shyam temple in Rajasthan with her four-year-old son and sister-in-law, said the driver was rude to passengers. “So many of us told him that he was overspeeding. He didn’t pay heed to our requests and said he wanted to reach Delhi by 1am at any cost. Because of him, two people died, and so many of us are now hospitalised,” Tiwari, who was among the 10 injured people, said.

The driver of the bus, Pankaj Kumar, who sustained injuries during the crash, is in police custody.