A 50-year-old homeless woman was killed after a woman driving an SUV on the wrong side of the road ran her over in Connaught Place on Sunday night, the police said on Monday. Accused Shreya Agarwal (20) was arrested and released on bail on Sunday itself.
Phoolwati was waiting outside a restaurant in outer circle to collect leftovers around 9 p.m. when the incident happened, the police said. She stayed in a night shelter at Gurdwara Bangla Sahib.
The vehicle, which was coming from Shivaji Stadium side, hit Phoolwati before dragging her for nearly 100 metres. A policeman on barricade duty flagged down the SUV after seeing a group of people chase it.
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“The people told the policeman that the SUV had crushed a woman outside an eatery and dragged her for nearly 100 metres. The policemen and passers-by lifted the car to rescue Phoolwati. She was rushed to a hospital in the police control room van but was declared brought dead,” said a senior police officer. Shreya and her two friends were detained and brought to Connaught Place police station for further investigation and medical examination. The blood alcohol report is awaited to confirm whether Shreya was under the influence at the time of the incident, the police said.
Case registered
“We have registered a case under Sections 304 A [causing death by negligence] and 279 [rash driving] of the Indian Penal Code at Connaught Place police station. The driver was arrested but released on bail. Phoolwati’s body was handed over to her husband after the post-mortem,” said a senior police officer.
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A resident of Bareilly in Uttar Pradesh, Shreya is pursuing fashion designing from a Mumbai-based institute. She was scheduled to leave for Mumbai on Monday morning. She had come to Delhi on Sunday morning from Bareilly in the car, which was earlier being driven by her driver. After reaching the city, she checked in at a hotel in Connaught Place, the police said. She met two of her friends in the evening and the trio left for a joyride.