Woman learning to drive with husband runs over 2 minors at Navy Nagar, Colaba
INHS Asvini (inset: The Santro being driven by Sangita Devi Rai)
Two minors were crushed to death after a 34-year-old woman, who was learning to drive, lost control of the vehicle and rammed into them at Navy Nagar in Colaba on Sunday.
The driver, Sangita Devi Rai, was learning to drive from her husband Santosh Kumar Rai (36), who was sitting beside her when the incident took place. The couple was arrested and freed on bail by a magistrate on Monday.
According to the police, Santosh was teaching Sangeeta to drive their Hyundai Santro car (DL-01-C-8543) around 2:15 pm inside the Suvidha Complex in Navy Nagar when the minors, brothers Akshanksa Dhyani (13) and Abhay Dhyani (7), passed in front of her.
Akshanksa, who was riding the bicycle, saw the car and stopped at the side of the road. However, upon seeing them, Sangeeta panicked and mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake while turning.
She crushed one of them against a tree and ran over the other one. The kids were rushed to the naval hospital, INHS Asvini, but were declared dead upon admission.
The kids stayed in Suvidha complex with their parents. Their father, Raviprasad Dhyani, is posted with the Army.
Following the incident, Cuffe Parade police booked the couple under under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 279 (rash driving) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Santosh, a Lance Naik in the Army, was arrested because he allowed his wife to drive the car without having a valid driver’s licence. The magistrate granted the couple bail on Monday on a cash bond of Rs 15,000 each.
