Pregnant woman run over by novice parking attendant

Husband also injured in incident at Noida Sector 18 market; accused arrested

November 14, 2017 01:39 am | Updated 01:39 am IST - Noida

A six-month pregnant woman was killed in Noida’s Sector 18 market on Sunday night when a parking attendant lost control of a vehicle and mowed her down as she was walking with her husband.

The incident happened around 8:45 p.m. when the victim, 28-year-old Mansi, was walking with her husband Prateek to their car. Prateek was also seriously injured in the accident.

Attendant a teenager

Eyewitnesses said that the parking attendant, an 18-year-old, was driving a sedan when he lost control and hit the couple and some other vehicles before crashing into an electricity pole. Prateek, who is still in shock, has suffered injuries to his face, leg and hand.

“The woman suffered severe head injuries. As the incident happened near a police post, a police team also reached the spot. The injured were taken to Kailash Hospital in Sector 27 where the doctors declared the woman dead on arrival,” said circle officer Swetabh Pandey. According to onlookers, a Samaritan hired an electric car and rushed the woman to the hospital.

The couple lived in JM Aroma housing society in Sector 75. Prateek works with a media company in Noida Film City.

The parking attendant, identified as Avinash, has been booked for causing death by negligence, rash driving and endangering the life of others. He had taken up the job recently, did not know how to drive and had no driving licence. A sub-contractor said that the youth was working only as a helper.

Private contractor

The Noida Authority, which operates the parking space in Sector 18, had awarded the contract to a private person. Till Monday morning, no Noida Authority official took up the matter. However, after media intervention, the Authority swung into action and in the evening served a notice to the parking contractor. The Hindu has a copy of the notice.

The Authority in the notice asked the contractor, Shobhit Sharma from Bhajanpura in north-east Delhi, how long the accused attendant had been working with him. The Authority also asked the contractor to submit Aadhaar card, driving licence and payment register belonging to the parking attendant.

“Through media we have come to know that the parking contractor is also at fault. To examine the fact, we have issued notice to him. If he fails to give satisfactory answer, stringent action will be taken against him. We will also suspend his contract,” said Noida Authority additional chief executive officer R.K. Mishra.

Residents worried

Following the incident, Sector 18 Market Association president S.K. Jain raised questions over the process of hiring parking attendants who have no driving skill or licence in most cases. He demanded a clarification from the parking contractors and a police verification of all the attendants, who, he said, should be given uniforms.

Residents who visited the market frequently claimed being fleeced and threatened by the parking attendants, who forced them to leave their car keys with them for double/triple lane parking.

Mr. Jain claimed that the attendants work in “gangster style” and may also have criminal record.

No isolated case

Sector 18 is considered the Cannaught Place of Noida. This is not an isolated case of a goof-up by a parking attendant. In the past too, many incidents have been reported where the parking attendants have misbehaved or beaten up people.

The kin of Prateek have sought action against the parking contractor, who they claim is responsible for the incident as he hired an untrained youth for the job.

A reality check of Sector 18 market has revealed that many youths are working in the parking areas on daily wages of Rs.400 each. While they are supposed to pay a fixed amount to the sub-contractor concerned, they tend to make money by charging the market goers without issuing them a slip.

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