Seven people, including two children, were killed at 2am on Sunday as they slept on a Carter Road pavement when a car ran over them. The victims were labourers from Andhra Pradesh.
Poornima Swaminathan & Somendra Sharma
MUMBAI: Seven people, including two children, were killed at 2am on Sunday as they slept on a Carter Road pavement when a car ran over them. The victims were labourers from Andhra Pradesh.
Police said all the occupants of the navy blue Toyota Corolla — five men and a woman — were reportedly intoxicated when the accident took place. Eight people were grievously injured in the accident. They were taken to Bhabha hospital.
“A big car playing loud music rammed into the pavement,” said Kaman Raju (22), who was sleeping near the site of the accident. “I was startled and woke up hearing people screaming. Before I could understand what had happened, the car ran over my leg.”
Raju said there was a pool of blood on the pavement. “The youngsters started to flee after the accident,” said Balappa (22), another witness. “They assaulted us when we tried to catch hold of them.”
Witnesses say that some of the men from the car tried to rip out the vehicle’s number plate.
But the arrival of the police within ten minutes thwarted their plan.
The Khar police have arrested the six occupants of the car and collected their blood and urine samples for chemical analyses. A bottle of Bacardi rum was recovered from the car.
Alister Anthony Pereira (21), who was at the wheel, has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving, and causing grievous hurt. He was remanded in police custody till November 14 by the holiday court at Bandra.
Others in the car, Craig Clyster Pereira (18), Conroy Jacob Gardin Jacob (21), Kurt Noel D’Lima (20), Mervin Anthony Pinto (19), and Ronella Gilbert Santamay (20) were released on a security bond of Rs5,000 each.
The dead have been identified as Timanna Londa Ashappa (40), Aajma Bagappa Motar Malappa (35), Lachamma Malla Raju (25), Manyamma Timanna (35), Dev Bagappa Motar Malappa (7), and Kavita Timanna (5).
“Two children and a pregnant woman were killed,” said Balappa. “But the car’s occupants did not even look tense, leave alone repentant.”
Recent cases of death under wheels
September 28, 2002:
Salman Khan is accused of running over a man sleeping outside a Bandra bakery
August 14, 2005:
Manish, son of industrialist Mahendra Khatau, is arrested for rash driving and injuring Constable Jitendra Rokade. Is later acquitted
February 4, 2006:
Neil Chatterjee, then South Asia corporate affairs head of StanChart, allegedly runs over a security guard
July 27, 2006:
Asama Sudhir Mada, 33, an NRI psychiatrist, allegedly crushes two persons to death at Mahim
Enforcement of the law is weak, say experts
Ashwin Aghor
MUMBAI: Sunday’s episode has revived the call for stringent laws to deal with such cases. Legal experts contend that sections 304, 304(A) and 304(B) of the Indian Penal Code, which deal with dangerous driving, do not tackle cases relating to driving under the influence.
YP Singh, a former police officer who now practises law, said section 304(A) is inadequate because it makes the offence bailable. “This section does not sustain in court,” said Singh.
Others say the problem is not the law but its implementation. Criminal lawyer Anil Aggrawal said, “The existing laws are perfect. They should be applied more stringently.”
Former police chief MN Singh agreed. “With incidents of hit-and-run cases rising and the culprits getting away, the law has become a joke,” he said.
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