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‘He was funding brother’s education’: Kin of engineer killed in Pune accident
The accident happened on Sunday in Kalyani Nagar when a 17-year-old son of a builder, who was driving a Porsche, hit a bike and killed two software engineers.
The family of Aneesh Awadhiya, one of the two software engineers who died in the Pune car accident, is staring at an uncertain future after his death. Due to financial issues at home, Aneesh was bearing the expenses of the education of his younger brother, who too stayed in Pune, the family said.
“He was earning well and our elder son was bearing the expense of education of our younger son. Now, how will we continue his education? Who will bear the expense of his education?” Aneesh's father Om Prakash Awadhiya told ANI.
The accident happened on Sunday in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area when a 17-year-old son of a builder, who was driving a Porsche hit a motorcycle and killed Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta. The teenager got bail within hours on the condition that he would have to work with the Yerwada traffic police for 15 days and write an essay on the accident.
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Awadhiya, who is from Madhya Pradesh's Umaria, said, “Neither the police nor the government supported us.”
According to his father, Aneesh was a graduate of Pune's DY Patil University and had been working as an engineer for the past two years. He added that Aneesh was planning to move abroad.
“His hard work got him a job and he was working as an engineer in Pune. The day before the incident, which happened on May 19, he spoke to us, and a few days ago, he had returned from Dubai. He was telling his mother that he was planning to visit us and he had spoken in the office about going abroad. It was his birthday on the 19th, and he was at a party. Around 3am, we got a call about the accident and were asked to come to Pune. How can we have left like that?” he added.
Speaking about the accident, Om Prakash said that he found all the information about it through different news sources. “We found out through the news that the car that killed Aneesh was very expensive. There were four people in the car, a minor was driving it and all of them were drunk.”
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Aneesh's grandfather Atma Ram Awadhiya, too, accused the Maharashtra police and hospital staff of not cooperating with the family. “He went to Pune for studies, then he started working as a software engineer there. On May 19, he was hit by a speeding luxurious car... I demand the government to make up for our loss. We are observing that Maharashtra police and hospital staff are not cooperating with us,” he said.
Mother of Ashwini Koshta, the woman techie who was killed along with Aneesh, said,"“The parents (of the accused) should be punished for the way they have brought up their child. Law should also take action so that such an incident does not happen again.”
Police action in the case
Political parties and social media have criticised the police's handling of the case. This led Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis to call the Police Commissioner to ensure a thorough investigation.
After a call from Fadnavis on Monday, Shinde also called Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Tuesday, demanding strict action against the minor, who was reportedly driving at 160 kilometres per hour and was drunk.
Pune Porsche accident: Owner, manager of bar arrested for serving liquor to minor
Kumar confirmed that CCTV footage showed the accused driving at full speed while intoxicated. The police have asked the district court to try the juvenile as an adult because of the severity of the crime. A hearing on this request is expected on Tuesday. Additionally, the police have charged two public owners, two managers, and the boy’s father under the Juvenile Justice and Motor Vehicle Act (MVA) for their negligence and rule violations related to the case.
Duo's friends and family on their death
Describing Aneesh as a “fun guy but also very respectful and polite”, speaking to Indian Express, a friend of Aneesh's said, “Aneesh did very well in college and had a brilliant future ahead of him. He was hoping to go to the US to study or work. Whenever we met, we used to talk about coding, the kind of projects we should take up.”
Ashwini's brother Samarpreet Koshta, who is supposed to travel to his hometown Jabalpur with her remains, said, “She was a bright student and was enjoying her work.”
