‘My girl lay soaked in blood but no one stopped to help,’ recalls Janakpuri accident victim

No one stopped to help her while she desperately pleaded for help as her granddaughter lay soaked in blood after a car rammed into their e-rickshaw, recalled the elderly woman after the horrific accident in West Delhi’s Janakpuri.

The woman was taking her six-year-old granddaughter to school on the morning of February 17 when the tragedy struck.

“The e-rickshaw driver was driving very gently. Suddenly, a speeding white car collided with our e-rickshaw, and the three of us fell. I begged the car driver to take my baby to the hospital in his car. But he ran away,” said Mercy Xavier, the girl’s maternal grandmother.

The girl’s mother said she got a call from a hospital staffer informing her about the accident and her mother’s fervent pleas for help on the road that fell on deaf ears.

“She stopped three to four vehicles and asked for help, but no one stopped,” the mother said. It was a nurse who rushed her daughter to the hospital with the help of another person.

“If help had come sooner, maybe things would have been different,” the mother said, adding that the car was speeding.

Neighbours described the child as cheerful.

“Her grandmother would drop her off at school and pick her up. We’ve seen her — she was very cheerful. She has an older sister and they live with their parents and grandparents,” said Georgina, a neighbour.

The victim and her grandmother, residents of Lajwanti Garden, were initially taken to Mata Chanan Devi Hospital. They were later shifted to an advanced facility in Dwarka.

The girl succumbed during treatment.

Mercy Xavier told police that around 7.40 am, she was travelling in an e-rickshaw with her granddaughter when, near the Janakpuri Fire Station, a car rammed into their vehicle, sending it toppling and throwing both of them onto the road.

The police later seized the car and apprehended its driver, who they identified as Sanjeev.

“The accused driver was apprehended on Wednesday. Statements of witnesses are being recorded, and CCTV footage from cameras installed near the fire station and surrounding areas is being examined to reconstruct the sequence of events,” an officer said.