An entire family of pavement dwellers, including three minors, was killed after a trailer ran over them in Reay Road on Tuesday. The driver of the truck was caught while trying to flee and handed over to the police by furious eyewitnesses.
According to eyewitness accounts, Sona Ali Sheikh (30) was sleeping on the pavement outside the Atlas Mills compound with her daughters Lupta (10) and Shabana (6) and her son Waseem (2).
At around 5.30 am, a trailer that was plying on the road alongside the pavement, suddenly lost control and veered towards the Sheikhs.
“Unfortunately, the Sheikhs were sleeping with their heads towards the road. As a result, when the truck lost control and ran over the pavement, it crushed the heads of all the four,” said an officer with the Byculla police.
Eyewitnesses said that the driver of the truck looked out of the window and on seeing that he had just run over four people started panicking. Instead of trying to help, he started the truck again and sped away.
However, some other pavement dwellers, who were woken up by the crushing sound, started running after him, shouting for him to stop. They were joined by passersby and some shopkeepers in the area and the crowd gave chase for around two kilometres, before the driver was caught.
The driver was approaching a turn and had to slow down to negotiate it due to the size of his vehicle.
The crowd caught up with him as he slowed down and forced him out; he was then assaulted
by the mob, the police
said. Sona and her children were rushed to JJ Hospital where they were all declared dead before admission.
Meanwhile, the police control room was informed about the accident, and the information was relayed to the Byculla police. A team of officers took the driver, identified as Pralhad Gaur (25), into custody and took him to JJ Hospital for a medical check up.
“Gaur has been placed under arrest and charged under Sections 219, 279 and 304 (A) of the Indian Penal Code. While eyewitnesses have alleged that he was drunk at the time of the incident, he did not appear inebriated when we arrested him. His blood samples have been sent to be tested for alcohol content and reports will help confirm the same,” said the
officer.
Sona had been taking care of her children alone after her husband Ali left her five months ago. She made a living by begging or doing odd jobs, and slept on the pavement at
Reay Road during the night.