Five days on, Greater Noida hit-and-run suspect still on run; woman’s family raise funds for treatment

On December 31 at 9pm, a Santro car hit the three students who were walking home after buying groceries

Five days after three students of a private college were hit by a white Santro car in Greater Noida, the Gautam Budh Nagar police have not been able to identify the suspects or the vehicle’s registration number, while one of the students, 22-year-old Sweety Kumar, remains in critical condition in hospital.

22-year-old Sweety Kumar has been taken off the ventilator but the next three days are crucial for her, said doctors. (HT Photo)

“Several teams are working to identify the suspects and so far, footage from more than 60-70 CCTV cameras has been checked. However, there are no cameras on the route where the accident occurred. Our team is doing their best to find the culprits,” said Anjani Kumar Singh, station house officer, Beta-2 police station.

On December 31 at 9pm, a Santro car hit the three students who were walking home on the side of the road after buying groceries. Another car was passing through the area at the time and its passengers, who witnessed the accident, rushed the students to Kailash Hospital in Greater Noida.

Kumar, who is a final year BTech student, sustained a head injury while Karsoni Dong from Arunachal Pradesh and Anganba from Manipur sustained minor injuries and have been discharged from hospital.

Kumar’s parents, who arrived from Bihar on January 2, are trying to raise funds for her treatment on social media websites.

According to Dr Dinesh Sharma, director, Kailash Hospital, “We have removed Kumar from ventilator support. She is currently in the intensive care unit. Now, we will see how she responds to her surgery after which we will carry out treatments for her other injuries on her leg. She is responsive and opening her eyes as well, but it will take time for her to recover. It might take up to a month of treatment for her. The next 3-4 days are crucial for her.”

Santosh, Kumar’s cousin, said the family is struggling to pay for her treatment. “Sweety’s family comprises her parents, brother and elder sister. The family’s financial condition is not strong and her parents are not well-educated. Her father is a farmer and also gets income from a small medical shop in Daliama village near Patna,” he said.

“The family sent Sweety here for higher studies, but they are now praying for her life,” he added. He said the per day cost of treatment is more than ₹2 lakh and her family has been able to arrange ₹50,000 each day for the past four days. “We have raised about ₹4 lakh through crowdsourcing,” said Santosh.