Oct 03 2008
Tragedy Made Worse!
In a bizarre incident, a father became responsible for accidentally killing her 22 month old daughter while reversing the family car (Tata Sumo). The incident took place on Saturday when the family was returning from an outing at the nearby park. Anita, Shubhangi’s mother (the girl who got killed), got down from the car to unlock the main door while Sunil Kumar (the father) was reversing the car. He was unaware that his tender girl was walking towards the car. That night as the reversing car hit the Shubhangi, she fell down and hurt her head against a stone on impact.
“We heard Anita screaming and rushed out, where we saw both parents trying to revive Shubhangi, who was bleeding. She was immediately taken to Max, where she died later,” added the neighbor.
The tragedy does not end here. The police have registered a case of death by negligence against the father under section 304(A). A senior police official confirmed that, “A case has been registered and the father, Sunil Kumar, will be arrested soon.”
Just imagine the plight of the mourning father. He would not have still recovered from the jolt of his mistake when the news of his arrest came. “You can imagine the grief that Sunil is feeling. Shubhangi was his favorite, and he used to spend all his free time with his family. Now we will have to also fight for Sunil’s freedom,” said a relative.
According to neighbours, the Kumars had shifted last year to the locality, which was near Sunil’s parents’ home in Kalyanpuri, New Delhi. Kumar, who ran a cable business, would take his family out every weekend. “The elder daughter is in class I in St Mary’s school. Both Sonia and Shubhangi used to play around with neighborhood kids. They looked like the perfect family,” said another neighbor, Sakshi.
I’m still unsure if registering a case against a lamenting father is the right thing to do. If Mr. Kumar actually loved his daughter as much as is claimed by the relatives, will he ever be able to pardon himself for the mistake he has made? Isn’t the guilt of his act enough for his penance? What can be worse for a father to be tormented by the fact that he was responsible for his own child’s death every day of his life?
