‘He dreamed of escaping poverty’, says family of 14-year-old killed in car crash in Gurugram

Anil’s maiden trip to the city for sight-seeing turned tragic on Sunday night when he was killed in a car crash along with his 18-year-old brother-in-law Mordhwaj, who had tied the knot with his sister on July 7 this year in Hamupur village.

Hailing from a family of farmers and daily wage earners, 14-year-old Anil was academically sharp and professionally driven. He wanted to “escape poverty”, a dream that died with him on Sunday night.

A view of the spot where a speeding Range Rover (Discovery) car crushed two boys on Sunday night at Golf Course Extension road near Vatika City Chowk, in Gurugram. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

“Anil used to say ‘I want to escape poverty’. He was good in studies and wanted a permanent job in the public sector,” said Ravinder, his uncle, who rued not being able to take his nephew to see historical monuments in Delhi. “He wanted to go to the India Gate. Whenever I visited our village, he would ask me to take him to see all the monuments,” he said.

Anil’s maiden trip to the city for sight-seeing turned tragic on Sunday night when he was killed in a car crash along with his 18-year-old brother-in-law Mordhwaj, who had tied the knot with his sister on July 7 this year in Hamupur village.

Hailing from Guritha village in Budaun, Mordhwaj had come to the city about nine years ago and had started selling gol gappas after trying his hand at some odd jobs, said his elder brother Devender, who witnessed the car crash. “He had just gotten married and had barely spent any time with his wife before coming here for work,” Rishipal, a cousin, said.

Mordhwaj, 18,who died in the crash, on his wedding day (Sourced )

Anil, the second youngest of his five siblings, was supposed to return to Budaun this week after spending 10 days in Gurugram, but could not go as no one in the family or acquaintance could take a leave from work to escort him back home. “We could not send him alone and were trying to arrange for his travel. It is a tragic loss for the family,” Morpal Yadav, a relative, said.

Anil, a student of class 7 in Hamupur village of Badaun, had come to the city 10 days ago for a vacation and used to accompany Mordhwaj to sell street food—a trade adopted by most members of his family.