Trapped in mangled car for 8 hours on Delhi-Mumbai eway, couple bleeds to death

Police said preliminary investigation suggests their grey Wagon-R was struck from behind at high speed by a heavy vehicle.

A couple from Delhi bled to death after being trapped inside their mangled car for nearly eight hours when it was crushed by an unidentified heavy vehicle on the Delhi–Mumbai Expressway near Nuh, police said on Thursday. Investigators believe hundreds of vehicles likely passed the wreck through the night, yet none stopped or alerted authorities.

Based on the position of the bodies, police said that they believe the two may have remained alive for several hours after the collision (HT photo)

Based on the position of the bodies, police said that they believe the two may have remained alive for several hours after the collision. The husband, officers said, appeared to have reached out and held his wife in what may have been their final moments.

Police said the crash occurred sometime between 11.30pm and midnight near Nosera village in Nuh on Tuesday. However, the police control room received its first alert only at 7.30am on Wednesday. When officers reached the spot, they found the couple dead, still trapped inside the mangled vehicle.

The victims were identified as 42-year-old Lacchi Ram and his 38-year-old wife, Kusum Lata. Originally from Karauli in Rajasthan, they had been living with their four children – two minor sons and two minor daughters – in Mangeram Park, Budh Vihar, Delhi. Ram worked as a construction contractor, while Lata was a homemaker.

Inspector Praveen Kumar, station house officer of the Nuh Sadar police station, said preliminary investigation suggests their grey Wagon-R was struck from behind at high speed by a heavy vehicle. “The car, bearing a Delhi registration number, was pushed into the metal crash barrier. It was mangled beyond recognition. The couple suffered severe injuries and bled to death inside,” he said.

Kumar added that it remains unclear how the wrecked car went unnoticed on the busy expressway for so long. “Only after further investigation will we know if negligence in patrolling contributed to the delay in receiving information,” he said.

Police are examining CCTV footage from the expressway and have identified two suspected vehicles that may have hit the car. “We will soon trace the vehicle involved,” Kumar said.

For the family, the first hint that something was wrong came hours later.

Lacchi Ram’s father Devi Singh, 71, said his son and daughter-in-law had left for Delhi around 7pm on Tuesday and were expected home after midnight. “I called them repeatedly through the night but no one answered,” he said.

At 8.15am on Wednesday, he called again. This time, someone picked up. “I assumed it was one of my son’s workers and asked him to hand the phone to Ram. The caller then told me he was a police official from Nuh and informed me that both Ram and Lata had died in an accident,” Singh said. The family immediately rushed from Karauli to Nuh.

“Overnight, my life has changed. We have lived our years, but who will look after the four young children?” he said, breaking down.

Based on Singh’s complaint, an FIR was registered on Wednesday against an unidentified driver under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita at the Nuh Sadar police station. The bodies were handed over to the family after post-mortem examinations.