School girl dies after tempo knocks down bike driven by her friend’s mother in Mumbai

Along with her school friend and her mother, the deceased, Nikita Yadav from Hanuman Nagar in Bhandup, was returning home from school

An eight-year-old girl died after a bike she was riding pillion on was knocked down by a tempo driver in Bhandup on Monday afternoon.

Along with her school friend and her mother, the deceased, Nikita Yadav from Hanuman Nagar in Bhandup, was returning home from school. “The woman was riding the bike,” said Shrinivas Panhale, senior inspector of Bhandup police station. “The girls were picked up from their school.”

The accident occurred at a petrol pump on the busy Lal Bahadur Shastri (LBS) road on the northbound stretch. The police stated that Nikita fell from the bike and sustained grievous injuries.

Her friend and the woman escaped with minor injuries.While trying to flee the spot, the accused tempo driver, Santosh Dhanwate, 24, was nabbed by passers-by. The police arrested him.

Nikita was taken to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead. This is the second such incident in a fortnight at Bhandup in which a girl has been killed. On March 30, a nine-year-old girl died after a two-wheeler rammed into her, while she crossing a road at Bhandup (West).

The accident occurred around noon when Santosh Mahajan, 46, a resident of Jangalmangal Road near Abhudaya Bank in Bhandup (West), was crossing the road near his residence along with his daughter Asmita.

Asmita sustained grievous injuries on her head. The father and the accused the biker took her to a nearby hospital where she was declared dead. The accused was arrested and booked under section 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).