A 16-year-old girl cycling to school died of head injuries when a truck knocked her down in Pandra, 10km from the state capital, on Wednesday, her blood grievously staining the ongoing Road Safety Awareness Week in Ranchi.
It is not immediately clear if the truck that hit Class XI commerce student of Ursuline Inter College Shanti Kujur was speeding or she inadvertently came in its way, but local residents managed to chase and intercept the fleeing vehicle whose driver was then handed over to police.
According to eyewitnesses, the fatal accident took place near Friends Colony in Pandra around 10.30am. Shanti, the only child of a poor widow, was pedalling 12km to her Purulia Road school from her Sundil home in Ratu as she did every day. "The empty truck had just refuelled and was on its way to Pandra Market. It hit the girl from behind. She was flung off her cycle seat and her head hit the ground. She died on the spot," said a vegetable vendor who witnessed the mishap.
Pandra OC Rajiv Ranjan said the truck had been seized and its driver, Manoj Kumar Singh, a resident of Gandhi Maidan in Simdega, arrested. "People chased the truck when they could not save the girl. The vehicle was caught near the market. The driver had come from Calcutta last night (Tuesday) and is a native of Simdega," he said.
Neither police nor eyewitnesses said that the truck was speeding.
Shedding more light on the victim's identity, OC Ranjan said she hailed from the marginalised section of the society and only had a widowed mother at home who worked as a daily-wage worker to make both ends meet. "Her (Shanti's) father passed away four years ago. We have informed her mother, Geeta Devi, that the body has been sent to RIMS for post-mortem."
The management of Ursuline Inter College said Shanti studied in Section B of Class XI. "She was a regular and good student. Our staff went to RIMS after we received the news. We are deeply saddened," said an official.
Traffic SP Manoj Ratan expressed his concerns over the unabated spate of accidents in Ranchi. "On January 6, Class III student of Saraswati Shishu Vidya Mandir, Dakra, Abhisekh Kumar Mahto (9), was run over by a truck in Khelari, 58km from the city. And now, blood spilled in the middle of a road safety week, which began on January 11. Mishaps outside city limits can only be checked with the help of local thanas. People too need to follow traffic rules," he said.
Rural SP Raj Kumar Lakra echoed Ratan and said that awareness programmes needed to be taken more seriously. "People have a part to play in road safety while police deal with reckless drivers," he added.
How can awareness drives be recast to curb mishaps? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
