A 20-year-old woman is in critical condition after a car rammed a motorbike she was riding pillion on, ran over her and dragged her for around 10 feet in Nand Nagri area on Tuesday afternoon, the police said on Thursday. The entire incident was captured in a CCTV camera, the police said, adding that her employer was riding the bike.
The car driver, identified as Sunny Rawal, was arrested on Wednesday and charged with rash and negligent driving causing injuries. His vehicle, bearing a Uttar Pradesh registration number was also seized.
In the footage of the 1.29-minute incident, captured by a camera installed at a business establishment in the vicinity, the biker is seen overtaking the car from the right side and halting, with the rider signalling the car driver to stop. Instead of halting, the car is seen reversing, then ramming the bike from behind and accelerating, dragging the woman — who was trying to regain her balance — for around 10 feet. The car driver then fled with the vehicle.
Deepak Kumar, 32, who was riding the bike, said that he immediately rushed to help the woman, identified as Adiba, who was unconscious.
“I lifted her up and took her to the roadside, from where I rushed her to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital for treatment. She was shifted to the ICU and is still battling for her life there. Doctors are saying that her condition is critical and the chances of her survival are minimal. She has suffered multiple fractures in her hip and also sustained head injuries,” Kumar said.
Kumar said that he runs a water purifier service centre in Shalimar Garden of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh, where Adiba, a resident of Sunder Nagri in Delhi, was working as a receptionist for the past one year. When the incident took place, Adiba was accompanying Kumar to a two-wheeler spare parts store in Nand Nagri.
“A car that was being driven rashly nearly touched my bike and another motorcycle while overtaking from the wrong side. I overtook the car and was stopping my bike just to ask the car driver to drive carefully as his negligence would have put our lives in danger. I had not even stopped my bike properly, when he deliberately rammed his car into my two-wheeler, ran over Adiba and dragged her under his vehicle,” said Kumar.
Deputy commissioner of police (northeast) Joy Tirkey said a case was registered under sections 279 and 337 of the Indian Penal Code on Tuesday and Rawal arrested on Wednesday.
“Rawal works for his father, who runs a grocery store in Sahibabad of Ghaziabad. He told the police that he was returning after purchasing bottles of cold drinks for the shop when the accident took place. He denied it was a case of road rage. Rawal claimed that he panicked when his car hit the bike and ran the car over the woman in a bid to flee the spot,” Tirkey said.
However, the police have not given Rawal a clean chit and are exploring the possibility of a deliberate attack. They said a statement from the injured woman would help them ascertain if she was previously acquainted with Rawal and was harassed by him.
“Adiba’s mother passed away a month ago. Her father has been unemployed for the past few months. She and her brother are the earning members for a family of seven,” said Kumar.
