45-year-old English professor dies after being hit by SUV driven by drunk 25-yr-old man

The police have arrested the driver, identified as Shubham Patil, 25, who was consuming alcohol with three of his friends, including two women, inside the car

Virar: Nearly four weeks after Shiv Sena leader’s son Mihir Shah, 24, in a heavily drunken state, rammed his BMW into a two-wheeler in Worli, killing a woman and leaving her husband injured, another case of drunk driving incident left a college professor dead in Virar on Thursday.

Atmaja Kasat, 45, was walking home to her home in Virar when the accident took place. HT Photo

The police have arrested the driver, identified as Shubham Patil, 25, who was consuming alcohol with three of his friends – a man and two women – inside the car, near the VIVA College in Virar West.

Patil, was booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The officials said the impact of the crash was so strong that the victim, Atmaja Kasat, was flung several feet into the air before hitting the road.

Kasat taught English at VIVA College in Virar which is affiliated to the University of Mumbai. Around 6.30pm on Thursday, she left the college campus for home and was walking towards her house in Gokul Township in Virar. A Fortuner driven by Shubham then hit her from behind at high speed. “Kasat was left in a pool of blood,” said an officer. After the accident, Patil stopped his car a few metres away from the spot and tried to flee with his friends but some residents had stopped them.

One of the eyewitnesses Shikhar Thakur, son of Hitendra Thakur, a politician, was near the spot and picked up Kasat and rushed her to a nearby private hospital. “She was conscious at the time but later succumbed to injuries in the early hours of Friday,” said an official.

Kasat was popular among students and was a noted English professor in the Virar area. Her husband runs a well-known computer class.

Vijay Patil, senior police inspector of Arnala Sagri police station said that Shubham Patil was heavily drunk at the time of the accident.

“Patil is the son of a quarry owner and resident of Dongarpada in Virar. He headed towards a restaurant to have dinner with his friends and already started drinking in the car,” said the inspector.

“We have arrested him and are conducting further investigation to find out whether he had prior cases of drunk driving against him,” said Jaywant Bajbale, deputy commissioner of police, Virar.

A colleague of Kasat said the day of the tragic accident, she had put up a new display photo on WhatsApp with the phrase “Aarambh Tu.... Annt Tu....Shuunya mee..... Annant Tu” (you are start.. you are the end.... I am nothing....you are infinite).”

“Her sudden demise left all of us in a state of shock,” the colleague said.