Three families stare into a bleak future after an Audi Q7 crashed into an autorickshaw at 150 kmph around 2 a.m. last weekend on M.G. Road near the Mayo Hall.
The crash took the life of Deepak S. (19, not 25 as reported earlier), who had just finished his shift at a pub. His colleague and relative, Karthik B. (20), was grievously injured while driver Yunus Ali, in his early 20s, trapped under the autorickshaw, was left with head injuries and a serious leg facture.
The Audi is believed to have been driven by a young management graduate, Rajesh L. Reddy (21). There were three others in the high-end car. Instead of helping the accident victims, they simply disappeared. It was a fellow autorickshaw driver who arranged for the injured to be moved to hospital.
To amputate or not
Even as the young driver, the son of a businessman and film producer, is pushing for bail (he’s in police custody now), Ali told The Hindu from his hospital bed in Bowring he wanted the Reddy family to own responsibility for what has happened. The young autorickshaw driver lay with his right leg in a cast and bandages on his body. His family said doctors will decide in a couple of days whether to amputate the leg or not.
He doesn’t bother to hide his anger against the Reddy family. “I want them to come and talk to me and also pay my medical expenses. I wish I could meet them face to face right now. No one has even bothered to check up on us after the accident, including the police.”
Recalling the horror that night, Ali said: “The car hit us so hard I could not remember anything for a while. I just remember that my head was aching and I was injured in three different places. When I opened my eyes, I was in hospital.”
His wife Shazia is clearly broken-hearted. “Doctors said he will be confined to the bed for three months. I don’t know how we will manage.” He is the sole breadwinner of his family comprising Shazia and their two children aged 2 and 3, and his mother. The family has already borrowed to pay for treatment. Ali is also worried about fixing his autorickshaw, which was badly damaged in the accident.
Money worries here too
Money worries also dog the family of Karthik, the injured passenger.
His cousin Madhu told The Hindu that like Ali and the deceased Deepak, he too is the sole breadwinner for his family comprising his two siblings and his 48-year-old mother who is partially blind and hard of hearing. “There is no one to help Karthik as his mother’s hearing and eyesight is deteriorating.”
Plea to Reddys
This family also said that the Reddys have not called on them. “All we want is for them visit us and help us.” In fact, they said, it was Karthik’s friends and colleagues who passed the hat around for his treatment. Medical authorities at Vikram Hospital, where Karthik is recovering, said he had blood clots in his head and lungs which has led to restricted breathing.
“He is progressing as expected, but is still in a state of shock,” a doctor in the hospital said.
