The family of national car racing champion Ashwin Sundar has, understandably, not yet recovered from the tragic death of their only son and daughter-in-law Nivetha in a gruesome car accident two weeks ago. Ashwin’s father T.A.S. Sundar, a businessman, recounts his version of what might have gone wrong early on March 18.
Ashwin (27) and Nivetha (25), a doctor, were charred to death as their BMW sports car caught fire after it crashed into the space between a tree and a parapet wall at MRC Nagar. The family, which lives in Alapakkam, has not recovered from the shock.
Mr. Sundar lamented, “I still can’t get over it. It is really like the wildest dream I have dreamt. Even today, when I woke up, I went and saw his room. It is very painful.”
None of the theories that have been circulated on how the accident occurred has convinced Mr. Sundar. He believes they are all wrong, and has his own idea of what might have happened.
He recalled how his son was trained as a sportsperson from the age of eight and had won many laurels. Ashwin won his first MRF go karting championship in 2003 at the age of 12. After that, there was no looking back.
‘No rash driving’
Dismissing the conjecture of rash driving and overspeeding, Mr. Sundar asserted, “I don’t feel that my son is such a fool to drive so fast while his wife was by his side in the car. Knowing that there were many speed breakers in the city, particularly on that road, he would not have driven the car fast. He knew where he could drive fast and where he should not. In that stretch, they have to check what happened through any CCTV footage. I am 100% confident that the police is doing a great job. There is no doubt about it. They will come out with the facts in the case very soon.”
“My assumption is that Ashwin did not hit the speed breaker at the curve. He did not die because of that. There should be something else. I am not saying it was a murder. I think some other vehicle or passer-by might have been the reason why the car went out of control. And I believe I am right,” asserts Mr. Sundar.
Disagreeing with engineers of the car manufacturer that there had been modifications to the vehicle, he asked: “Can they prove it? It was a second- hand car, and we heard that it had been involved in two accidents before this. I don’t think my son knew this. If he was aware, he would not have bought it.”
Advice to parents
He goes on to advise parents not to buy fast cars for their children, saying such two-seater high-speed cars are not fit for Indian roads.
“Parents should learn to say no to their children,” he added.
