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Pall of gloom descends on family of victim killed a day before engagement ceremony
A festive mood was building up at Sandeep Jangra’s house in Geong, Kaithal, ahead of his engagement ceremony on Friday, but destiny had a cruel plan for him and his family
A festive mood was building up at Sandeep Jangra’s house in Geong, Kaithal, ahead of his engagement ceremony on Friday, but destiny had a cruel plan for him and his family.
Just a day before the engagement ceremony, the 25-year-old man was killed in a gruesome car crash on the National Highway (NH-48) near Binola village in Gurugram’s Bilaspur along with four other office colleagues.
Sandeep’s nephew Ajay Jangra, (23), said that his marriage was scheduled on March 24. He said that he is not in a position to inform the girl’s family about the accident. “They belong to Bakar village in Jind. Sandeep’s parents had been trying to get his marriage fixed since the last eight-nine months. We are unable to think or understand anything right now,” he said.
“Sandeep was the sole breadwinner for the family. His 33-year-old brother Amit worked with a travel firm in Gurugram but lost his job during the first Covid-19 induced lockdown in 2020 and returned to the village,” Ajay said.
Ajay said that Sandeep’s mother Roshni Devi, (55), was placed under medical supervision as she was repeatedly fainting since the moment she came to know that her younger son was killed in the accident. “She is in a state of shock. Sandeep’s father Ramesh, (60), has also broken down,” he added.
“In fact, Sandeep’s mother was the one who received the horrifying news first. She received a call at around 2.30am and was told that five persons were killed in a road accident in Bilaspur and his son was one of them. However, she responded by saying that none of her relatives were in Bilaspur. She might have forgotten that Sandeep lived there,” Ajay said.
Ajay said that Sandeep’s elder brother received another call around 3am, where he was informed about the death and he immediately rushed to Bilaspur.
“Sandeep was getting a two-storey house constructed just outside the village. It was almost complete and the family members had even started to shift their belongings there, but now…,” Ajay said.
Meanwhile, Balwant Sharma, the brother-in-law of Sandeep’s colleague Praveen Sharma, (32), who also died in the accident, said that his wife Ramta Devi, (25) is yet to be informed about the news.
“We have only told her that he is critical and has been shifted to Lucknow for better treatment as his elder brother Ashok Sharma is a software engineer there. We are not in a position to break the tragic news,” Balwant said. He said that Praveen is a father of two sons — Utkarsh, (5), and Ujjwal, (2). “He had recently got Utkarsh admitted to the nursery class,” he added.
Balwant said that they are taking Praveen’s body to Siwan in Bihar for the final rites. “His wife Ramta and the two sons along with other relatives have already boarded a train to reach Vaishali district in Bihar. From there, they will reach Siwan,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sandeep and Praveen’s colleagues said they are yet to come to terms with their deaths.
“No work took place at the Kakrola office on Thursday. We first rushed to the accident site, followed by a visit to the government hospital and then went to the mortuary,” said Kamdev Kumar, who worked with the deceased.
Kamdev said Chandra Mohan, (26), who was also killed in the accident, was working with the firm for nearly eight years. “He was earlier posted at Kakrola and shared a good rapport with Sandeep, Praveen, Ashish Singh and Bharat Bhushan Rajora. He came all the way from Ghaziabad to celebrate his birthday,” he added.