A pall of gloom descended on a Kandivli family’s yearly routine of enjoying visarjan processions after they lost their two-year-old son in a road accident on Sunday night
A pall of gloom descended on a Kandivli family’s yearly routine of enjoying visarjan processions after they lost their two-year-old son in a road accident on Sunday night. Gautam Bind was run over by an SUV after he ran, in the middle of the road, towards his father who was retrieving his toy.
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Gautam Bind
While Gautam was declared dead on arrival at the hospital due to severe injuries and blood loss, his family alleged that they received no help from the on-duty cops or politicos present at the spot, who chose to focus on the immersion processions instead.
The incident took place at the busy traffic junction of Mith Chowki in Malad (West) at around 10.30 pm. The junction turns into a tourist attraction on the eve of Anant Chaturdashi, as it falls enroute Marve, Aksa and other nearby beaches where various Ganpati mandals immerse idols.
The Bind family’s annual ritual comprised of bringing their two sons to Mith Chowki from their Laljipada residence. Moments before the incident, Gautam had accidentally thrown a toy he was holding, which ended up falling in the middle of the road.
His father Sundar, who was carrying him at the time, put him down and rushed to retrieve Gautam’s toy. “I had barely picked up the toy and looked behind when I saw Gautam running towards me. I panicked. But before I could react, he was run over by a car,” said Sundar.
‘Nobody came to help’
It took 45 minutes for Sundar, after the incident, to take Gautam to Shatabdi hospital. The toddler who was bleeding profusely, was declared dead on arrival. While the incident took place right in front of a stage built by local politicians to address the immersion rally, none came to help the Binds who were desperately trying to get medical help for their boy.
On the contrary, when the family approached a police constable, standing near the stage and who witnessed the incident, he allegedly asked them to go to the hospital on their own. Sundar said, “The constable told us to go to Shatabdi hospital first, following which a police complaint would be registered.
We were later helped by three-four people, who forcibly stopped a rickshaw, so that we could carry Gautam to the hospital.” The Binds finally reached the hospital around 11.20 pm. Doctors who attended Gautam confirmed that the boy had suffered a severe head injury. Later, his body was sent to Bhagwati hospital for post-mortem.
Speaking to mid-day, an autopsy expert from Bhagwati hospital said, “The boy had suffered multiple injuries, including a severe head trauma and lost a lot of blood, which ultimately lead to his death.”
Driver arrested
Based on the description of the vehicle involved in the accident — a Mahindra XUV — received from the control room, Malvani cops arrested Badrivishal Tiwari (52) within minutes from the same locality. He was booked under Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC and is currently in police custody.