Drunk Mercedes driver fatally knocks down woman in Bengaluru

Family calls out cops' 'lackadaisical attitude'

Bengaluru: In a horrifying crash, a drunk Mercedes-Benz driver fatally knocked down a 30-year-old woman in western Bengaluru's Kengeri on Saturday evening. 

The incident unfolded outside the Kengeri TTMC on the busy Mysuru Road around 6.45 pm, when a 20-year-old suspect, identified as Dhanush, fatally struck down Sandhya A S. 

An alcometer test showed he had 177 mg/100 ml of blood alcohol content, nearly six times the legally permissible limit of 30 mg/100 ml, although the forensic report is still awaited, well-placed sources told DH.  

Kengeri traffic police arrested Dhanush, whose father Parameshwar owns a private bus operator L V Travels, on the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He was produced before court on Sunday and has been remanded in judicial custody. 

Puneeth (26), an eyewitness who was waiting for a bus to go home himself, called up the police to file a complaint. 

He stated in his complaint that the speeding car (KA 01 MZ 9903) struck Sandhya, who was crossing the road, and then crashed into a biker named Syed Arbaz (23). 

Sandhya was grievously injured while Syed sustained minor injuries. Puneeth and bystanders took them both to a nearby private hospital, where doctors pronounced Sandhya dead on arrival. 

The FIR also noted that Dhanush had attempted to flee but was caught by the bystanders and reportedly thrashed. It became apparent then that he was intoxicated. 

Who was Sandhya?

Sandhya, a married woman, lived with her family in Basaveshwara Nagar and was a business partner in a store named Deepa Fashion in Kengeri, looking after the store's finances. According to her family, she used to travel on a scooter to reach the Vijaynagar metro station and take the metro to Kengeri and later a bus to reach her store. 

On the fateful Saturday, she reached the Kengeri bus stop by 6.30 pm and was crossing the road to reach the metro station. 

Umesh, Sandhya's maternal uncle, told DH: "When we got to the police station around 9.15 pm, eyewitnesses told us that she was flung 10 feet away, and crashed on the road, suffering serious head injuries and fracturing both her legs." 

Sandhya's phone was lost in the melee. The family was informed when Kengeri police contacted Basaveshwara Nagar police after seeing her Aadhaar card and the latter visited the family, her family as well as the police said. 

Sandhya had also worked as a background voice actor and was thus known in the local film and radio circles. 

'Lackadaisical attitude'

Sandhya's family alleged that the police dilly-dallied in filing the complaint, which was taken only by 9 pm. They engaged in a verbal spat with the cops, alleging that they were shielding the accused. 

"I was given a copy of the FIR only at 3 am (on Sunday). The suspect was simply sitting around, and his father visited the station three times. Police were evasive with their answers and took a long time to file the complaint," said Umesh. 

However, a Kengeri traffic police officer claimed that it was difficult to find Puneeth, the witness who had called them, and record his statement, leading to the delay. 

"We had to find him and request him to come to the station so we could file the FIR. It took a lot of convincing. Besides, the IT system in our station was down so we had to go to RR Nagar police station to get the complaint registered," he said.