“They were just walking home,” says grieving father who lost three children in Hinjewadi accident

For the Prasad family, the tragedy has not only taken away three children; it has erased the entire fabric of dreams stitched carefully over 15 years of struggle

Devendra Prasad still cannot bring himself to step inside the small room wherein his three younger children kept their schoolbags every afternoon. Their water bottles, books and neatly folded uniforms remain untouched, as if waiting for the routine of one more weekday to unfold. Instead, the 40-year-old father now spends most of his time outside his laundry shop in Hinjewadi, staring blankly at the footpath where his children lost their lives on Monday.

Priya, the eldest of the three siblings who lost their lives in the Monday accident, had recently stood out in her semester exams. (HT)

“They were simply walking home. It wasn’t their mistake. Why were they crushed?” he asks, his voice breaking each time he repeats that question.

Devendra’s three children — Suraj (6), Archana (9) and Priya (16) — were returning from their Zilla Parishad school when a company bus, allegedly driven by an intoxicated driver, mowed them down. The children’s elder sister, Riya, 17, who had gone to pick them up from school, survived with minor injuries but remains in shock, unable to comprehend how she lost all her siblings within seconds.

For the Prasad family, the tragedy has not only taken away three children; it has erased the entire fabric of dreams stitched carefully over 15 years of struggle. Devendra came to Pune from Uttar Pradesh with little more than a small bundle of clothes and the belief that “children must study if they are to be better than their parents”. He worked odd jobs before opening a laundry shop in Hinjewadi phase 1, a locality where information technology (IT) towers stand alongside modest settlements of migrant workers.

Priya, the eldest of the three siblings who lost their lives in the Monday accident, had recently stood out in her semester exams. Her teacher had praised her performance, telling Devendra that “the girl will go far”. Priya dreamed of becoming a nurse because ‘she wanted to help people,’ recalls Riya, clutching her sister’s notebook. Archana, a cheerful third-standard student, loved drawing flowers and had pasted some of her sketches on the tin wall of their home. Little Suraj, who had just entered class 1, loved numbers and proudly recited tables to anyone who visited.

“They were bright kids. They worked so hard in school. We wanted them to complete their education,” says Devendra. His income from ironing clothes, barely enough to support the family, was never a deterrent. He saved every month to buy them uniforms, books and occasionally, chocolates.

The siblings had almost reached home when the crash occurred. Witnesses said the bus, travelling from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Chowk towards Wakad, first hit a motorcycle and then ploughed onto the footpath. Devendra rushed to the spot after someone from the neighbourhood ran to his shop. “I saw their bags first,” he recalled. “Then I saw them.”

The accident has shattered the closely-knit migrant community around Hinjewadi, where many parents walk their children to and from school because the roads are too crowded for them to navigate alone. Several mothers gathered at the Prasad home on Tuesday, holding Riya’s hand, telling her she was not alone. Some cried with Sunita, while others helped with cooking and comforting the family.

Doctors at Hinjewadi Hospital continue to treat the motorcycle rider who was critically injured, while another pedestrian is recovering at Mulshi Millennium Hospital. But the Prasad family’s loss has resonated far beyond the incident site. Residents say they have repeatedly complained about speeding buses operated by private companies ferrying employees.

Devendra has not decided whether he will stay in Pune. “Everything in this city now reminds me of them,” he says. “They used to laugh, play, fight, study. They had dreams. They had a future.”