Father, daughter mowed down by a rash driver.
By The American Bazaar Staff
NEW DELHI: In a horrible tragedy, a Haryana Roadways bus driver has claimed the lives of a middle-aged cardiologist and his three year-old daughter, on a day what should have been the little girl’s very first day of school.
Thirty-two year-old driver Harish Kumar has been charged with causing death via rash and negligent driving, for hitting and killing Dr. Pankaj Gupta (45), and his young daughter, Linoshiya. The accident happened early on Tuesday, April 22, in Gurgaon, when Kumar apparently lost control of the bus and drove on the wrong side of the street, hitting several other objects before and after striking Gupta and his daughter.
At around 7:30 AM, Gupta and his daughter were standing on the side of the road, waiting for a bus that would take Linoshiya to her first day of pre-nursery at a Delhi Public School. Singh’s bus was coming up the road, in transit between the Huda City Centre Metro station and the Subhash Chowk station. During this stretch, Singh reportedly drove into the oncoming lane of traffic to overtake cars in front of it, a common (but dangerous) practice on Indian roads.
Singh then lost control of the bus somehow, and swiped a lamppost and even an auto rickshaw. According to eyewitnesses who spoke to The Times of India, it was Singh’s desire to get away from the rickshaw accident that caused him to speed off down the road, which is when he came across the Guptas.
When Singh saw them standing on the roadside, he apparently tried to slam the brakes, but instead hit the accelerator, gruesomely mowing them down and dragging the bodies for several meters before hitting an electrical pole, thus bringing the bus, and the carnage, to a stop.
Medical crews required extensive work to free Gupta’s mangled body from under the bus, telling local media that no part of the body was left intact. The little girl’s abdomen had also been split open, leaving her intestines out on the road. Both father and daughter died on the spot.
The two leave behind a mother, 35 year-old Jyoti Gupta, and a seven month-old baby daughter. Neither was hurt, but the mother was reportedly hospitalized after going into shock upon hearing the news of her husband and eldest child.
Singh was taken into police custody and charged under Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code, but posted bail and is no longer in custody. He has been suspended from his job, pending the outcome of the investigation and eventual trial. No court date has been set yet.