Lawyer fractures fingers after auto plunges into pothole

Aisha Shaikh, 33, could not have imagined that an auto-rickshaw ride on the upmarket Gulmohar Road in Andheri (west) would land her in the hospital with a fracture.

Aisha Shaikh, 33, could not have imagined that an auto-rickshaw ride on the upmarket Gulmohar Road in Andheri (west) would land her in the hospital with a fracture.

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But that’s precisely what happened to her three weeks ago. On July 6, around 11 pm, Shaikh and her seven-year-old son were heading to Andheri station when the right tyre of the auto they were travelling in plunged into a deep pothole. The auto tilted and fell to the right.

“I was holding the rod on the right side of the auto and my hand got stuck between the rod and the road, fracturing my three fingers,” said Shaikh who was returning home after showing her son to a doctor in Lokhandwala.

“It was dark and I couldn’t see where my son was. I was worried and pulled my hand out to search foe him. In the process, I also bruised it against the road,” said Shaikh, who is a lawyer.

“A young man pulled my son out and rescued me. He took us to the hospital and helped me with the formalities,” said Shaikh.

Shaikh has decided to lodge a complaint in court against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which she holds responsible for the mishap.

“The BMC is responsible for the physical, mental and financial agony my son, my family and I went through. So many days after the accident, the pothole is still there. It is complete negligence,” she said. “The pothole is dangerous for anyone who is on the road, especially when it is raining or at night.”

Shaikh was admitted thrice to the hospital, and it has cost her around Rs 80,000, she said. She was operated on Thursday, but there’s still a major fracture in her little finger.