Sion residents protest after siblings killed in accident

Over 200 people gathered at Sion Koliwada on Sunday and broke the barricades, which encroached the footpaths, after two girls who were walking on the road were run over by a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) dumper truck.

Over 200 people gathered at Sion Koliwada on Sunday and broke the barricades, which encroached the footpaths, after two girls who were walking on the road were run over by a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) dumper truck.

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The police said the incident occurred around 2pm, when Fatima Shaikh, 4, and Noorjahan Shaikh, 2, were walking on the Mhada colony road. “Fatima was carrying Noorjahan in her arms when the truck came and hit them from behind. The girls were flung aside and died on the spot,” said an officer.

Following the accident, locals caught hold of the driver, Raees Babu Shaikh, and handed him over to the police. The crowd vented their anger by breaking barricades that the shopkeepers had erected, claiming the footpath as part of their shop.

“They told us that the shopkeepers had no right to the footpath which is meant for pedestrians. They said that if the footpath was accessible, the girls would have never walked on the road,” said the officer.

“Shaikh has been booked under sections 279, 338 and 304 of the IPC,” said the officer. While locals alleged that Shaikh had been driving drunk, the police refused to confirm. “We have sent him for medical tests to Sion Hospital,” said Dhanaje Jagdaleye, police sub inspector of Wadala TT police station.