A jolly bicycle ride turned fatal for an eight-year-old girl in Velachery on Saturday afternoon when a load autorickshaw rammed into her, killing her on the spot. The child was a class III student of G.K. Shetty Vidyalaya Matriculation Higher Secondary School in Adambakkam and the accident occurred on the first day of her summer vacation.
Around noon, D. Madhumitha, a resident of Rajiv Gandhi Nagar, Nehru Street, was returning home after getting her cycle repaired at a shop nearby.
When she was cycling down Fourth Street in Lakshmi Nagar, a Tata Ace vehicle coming from the opposite direction hit her, pushing her down instantly.
“I took her to the cycle shop as she insisted that I get her cycle repaired, since it was the first day of holidays,” said R. Mohanakrishnan, the child's grandfather who was walking behind her when the accident occurred. “After we got the cycle repaired, I bought her buttermilk and we were returning home when she said she will go ahead on her cycle as I walk a little slowly. I told her not to go alone,” he said.
P. Vadivel who runs New Fit Tailor Shop some metres from the accident spot, said he saw the child and grandfather, walk past his shop around midday. “The driver of the vehicle must have fled past our shop but we did not know of the incident till 20 minutes after it occurred,” he said.
The driver, Nagaraj (39), was carrying a load of electronic goods in the vehicle and later surrendered to the Guindy Traffic Police.
Residents who live near the accident spot said that Madhumitha's bicycle could have skid in the pile of sand on the side of the road to aid a private construction putting her in harm's way.
“The sand in this spot has not been cleared for almost a year and a half and it is extremely dangerous when vehicles pass by. Repeated complaints to the owner and Corporation authorities have been of no use,” said S. Subhashini, a resident of the neighbourhood, adding that the children in the neighbourhood have to face speeding vehicles on a daily basis when they play on the road, which is about 20 feet wide.
Others such as R. Krishnamurthy, a relative of the child, complained that there are no speed breakers on most roads in the locality. At Madhumitha's house, her parents, Dilli Babu and Padma Priya, were shattered. “I cannot believe she has left us,” her inconsolable mother said. The couple has another daughter aged two, who is recovering from a heart operation.
J. Kavitha, another resident, said: “All the children on this road always play together every evening when they return from school.”
