A. Vivekanandan, a territory manager at an English language training institute here, had the misfortune of watching his eight-year-old son die in a tragic road accident in the city on Wednesday.
Mr Vivekanandan was travelling on a motorbike when he witnessed his son V. Saran Viswesvaran being crushed to death by a college bus near Iyer Bungalow at 8.45 a.m.
A standard three student of Chethana Matriculation Higher Secondary school, Saran was on a two wheeler his mother was riding when the rear end of EMG Yadava Women’s College bus hit their vehicle.
While Saran was run over by the bus, his mother survived. “I took my son and rushed to the nearest private hospital, where he was declared dead. It was totally the fault of the bus driver. He fled the spot immediately”, Mr Vivekanandan told The Hindu . Saran sustained injuries in the head and died on the spot.
His wife V. Saranya, a teacher at Chethana school, fractured her legs and is admitted to a private hospital. She is unaware of her son’s death.
“She has been asking us about her son and we have told her he has gone to school. We are unsure and worried as to how she would react to the news”, one of her neighbours said.
The couple celebrated Saran’s eighth birthday only last week. Despite losing his only son, Mr Vivekanandan offered to donate the eyes of Saran, whose ambition was to become a collector. Saran’s eyes have been harvested.
“The doctors told us that Saran will continue to see the world for at-least another 50 years. That is the only way we can help him live now. He was an adorable kid”, said one of the neighbours.
The colleagues of Mr. Vivekanandan recalled Saran as an intelligent and a well mannered boy, who stood first in class and keen on sports.
“He came to our institute during his vacation and the staff members looked forward to his visits. He was a favourite for the staff and students,” said N. Amutha, an employee of VETA English language institute, where Mr Vivekandan works.
Saran’s uncle A. Karthik and other residents of Iyer Bungalow alleged that several complaints were lodged with the college administration about rash and negligent driving.
“Most of the drivers are young, inexperienced and they over speed. On a few occasions, the college administration has slammed the phone when we called to inform them about this”, said Mr Karthik.
Later, Saran’s teachers and neighbours came to the Government Rajaji Hospital to collect his body after post-mortem and were seen wailing uncontrollably.
