Income from Vishnu Lekhwani’s makeshift garments shop in Ramganj market was never enough to provide for his family. The family had to scrape through his meagre income to make ends meet every month.
A day after the 45-year-old was mowed down by a speeding BMW car driven by MLA Nandkishore Mahariya’s son Siddharth near Jaipur’s St Xavier’s School, his family members gathered outside the Ashok Nagar police station with desperate pleas and occasional wails for justice.
Three people were killed and five others injured when the BMW car, allegedly driven by the MLA’s son, rammed into an autorickshaw and a police PCR van near St Xavier’s School in the city late on Friday night. Siddharth was arrested on Saturday and sent to one-day police custody on Sunday.
Lekhwani’s nephew Harish Godwani told reporters on Sunday that the family did not even have money to perform the last rites of their breadwinner. “I helped them with some money. Lekhwani, was the only earning member of the family and is survived by three small children and his wife. They are in a dire need of the government’s help,” he said, adding that Lekhwani’s wife was left with no money even to feed her children.
“They cannot survive if they do not get financial support from the government…Apart from compensation, a government job should also be given to my aunt. We also want the police to see that harshest punishment is given to Siddharth, who was driving the car,” said Godwani.
{{/usCountry}}“They cannot survive if they do not get financial support from the government…Apart from compensation, a government job should also be given to my aunt. We also want the police to see that harshest punishment is given to Siddharth, who was driving the car,” said Godwani.
{{/usCountry}}Mahesh Kumar, a relative of Jethanand, 31, who was also killed in the accident, said the victim’s elderly parents were now left to deal with the grief of their son’s death and poverty alone.
“Jethanand’s mother is in a shock and the family does not even have money to provide for her treatment. We want life imprisonment for the accused along with compensation,” said Kumar. Family members of Jethanand blocked the entrance of the Ashok Nagar police station and refused to budge till they received assurance from the police officials over their demands of compensation.
Meanwhile, a team from the Forensic Scientific Lab (FSL) also collected evidence, including blood samples, from the seats of the BMW car that Siddharth Maharia was allegedly driving. They also took DNA samples from the accused, which were later sent for tests.