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Delhi girl, 6, killed in hit-and-run; grandmother says ‘begged driver’ for help
The girl’s maternal grandmother said the e-rickshaw driver was moving slowly, but a fast car hit the rickshaw, after which all three of them fell.
A six-year-old girl was killed, and her grandmother was injured when a fast-moving car struck the e-rickshaw they were travelling in, causing it to flip in Delhi’s Janakpuri on Tuesday morning. The elderly woman has now said nobody stopped to help her as she begged for help while her granddaughter lay covered in blood.
Police said on Thursday that the driver of the car was heading to work at the time of the crash and has been apprehended. The girl was travelling to school with her grandmother, Mercy Xavier (57), when the incident took place near Block C in Janakpuri, as mentioned in an earlier HT report.
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‘Begged driver to take her to hospital’: Janakpuri accident victim
The girl’s maternal grandmother said the e-rickshaw driver was moving slowly, but a fast car hit the rickshaw, after which all three of them fell.
“The e-rickshaw driver was driving very gently. Suddenly, a speeding white car collided with our e-rickshaw, and the three of us fell. I begged the car driver to take my baby to the hospital in his car. But he ran away,” she told news agency PTI.
The girl's mother said she received a call from a hospital staff member telling her about the accident and her mother's desperate calls for help on the road that no one responded to.
"She stopped three to four vehicles and asked for help, but no one stopped," the mother said. It was a nurse who took her daughter to the hospital with help from another person.
"If help had come sooner, maybe things would have been different," she said.
Neighbours described the child as cheerful. "Her grandmother would drop her off at school and pick her up. We've seen her. She was very cheerful. She has an older sister, and they live with their parents and grandparents," Georgina, a neighbour, told the news agency.
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Case registered, accused arrested: Police
Deputy commissioner of police (west) Darade Sharad Bhaskar told HT that the girl was declared brain dead at the hospital, but her family moved her and her maternal grandmother to Max Hospital in Dwarka, where she died from her injuries on Wednesday.
Police said the child had several injuries to her head and chest, while Mercy was hurt after falling on the road.
“During treatment, the victim was declared dead at Max Hospital, and her postmortem examination was conducted at DDU Hospital,” the DCP said.
Authorities said they have filed a case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for causing death by negligence and rash driving against the car driver.
The accused driver, identified as Sanjeev Dabas, a resident of Majra Dabas, was heading to work when the crash happened. He works as a lab assistant at a pathology laboratory, police said.
“The offending car has been seized, and the driver was apprehended and bound down on Wednesday. Further investigation is in progress,” the DCP added.
With inputs from agencies
