Speed that leads to nowhere
Raqif Makhdoomi
“They didn’t let me touch him for the last time”, says Inna Makan, mother of 23 years old Sahil who died in a road accident. She touched her cheeks while saying it, it resembled as if she wanted to feel her son. Her frustration is clear in all the interviews she is giving after her only son passed away.
“His head needed support. They picked him up without proper care”. She said while she was screaming, yelling and her eyes full of tears. Tears roll down her cheeks as she demand justice for her only son.
Sahil was brought up by her mother as a single parent. She lost her husband when Sahil was a kid. She did everything she could to ensure best education to her son. She provided her all the luxurious she could. Sahil’s mom in one of her interviews explained what she faced as a single parent till now. She described all what society made her face just because she lost her husband.
With each sentence I write, I get Goosebumps. Before putting the incident into words. I had to go through all the details. And as it’s time to put all those details into words. The voice of Sahil’s mother is ringing in my ears. No mother deserves to see end of her son. The way she has seen it. Sahil, was her lone son. And she did everything for him. She had no one other than him and now she doesn’t even have him.
“I have no reason to live. I have no reason to wake up. I have no reason to go to work” says Sahils mother with her eyes clearly showing up what she’s going through. There are clear marks beneath her eyes, which clearly shows how much she’s crying since she lost her lone son.
A video on X posted by Sahil’s friend. Where he’s seen dancing is flashing before my eyes as I write this article. I fail to understand how his mother is dealing with this loss.
Sahil left on his sports bike and never returned back. A minor who was rash driving a Scorpio car hit him. Sahil was lying on road with no one taking him to hospital. Had he been taken to hospital he could have been saved. But he wasn’t, he was lying on road and his sports bike broken into three pieces.
Imagine the speed and the force that hit Sahil, leaving a sports bike into three pieces. Sports bike is a very sturdy vehicle and it can’t be easily broken. Even his mother highlighted these points while she was speaking to a news channel.
She wasn’t annoyed only with the minor who was rash driving but how his son was handled after the accident. She describes how the hospital staff misbehaved with her. Just because she was demanding proper treatment for her lone son.
She explains how she wasn’t allowed to take dead body of his son and how she wasn’t even allowed to give a hug to his son.
She was forced out of the hospital while her son was lying dead on bed and wasn’t given treatment. Her only crime was she was screaming for proper medical care.
Imagine her pain while being forced out of hospital, just because she wants her son to be treated well and saved. Proper medical care is a Fundamental right under “Right to life”. Sahil was only 23 years old and his basic right was violated just because he didn’t belong to an influential family.
The father of the minor who crushed Sahil to death, in an interview said that he’s sorry for what happened. But Sahil’s mother strongly reacted to the sorry. None will accept “Sorry” after such a big loss. The sorry came 15 days after Sahil was crushed to death. The father of minor claims that he wasn’t in the city while this incident took place. Inna Makan calls the “Sorry “Almost Ironic. Why wouldn’t she. It took 15 days for his father to realize that he has to be sorry.
Sahil was the only reason his mother lived for and now she has no other to live for.
Sahil’s mother while mourning the death of her son said “She never made any savings, just because she wanted to fulfil all the demands of her son” .
As Sahil’s turns to ash, confirmation letter from Manchester university reaches his home. Conforming his admission in MBA program. The letter came but the letter finds no joy. For the one it has come from is now ashes and memories. Letter from Manchester must have brought another wave of grief to his mother.
This isn’t for the first time that we are witnessing an accident case which has shocked the whole country. The much a talked about ‘Porsche accident case’ which took place On 19 May 2024, Vedant Agarwal, aged 17 years, killed two motorbike riders in an automobile collision in the Kalyani Nagar neighbourhood of Pune, Maharashtra.
The deceased, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, were residents of Madhya Pradesh. All the accused of this high profile case have been granted bail. Three out of four were already on bail and the fourth one has been granted bail few days back.
People were taken aback when the 17 years old juvenile was granted bail after being asked to write 300 worded essay and was asked to spend 15 days with traffic police. Two bikers crushed to death and being allowed to walk free. This is where it all started.
Off you are driving a Porsche, a 300 worded essay is all to free you. Had a strict action been taken Sahil must have been celebrating his selection in Manchester University and his mother would have had a reason to live. But it’s all otherwise.
Ironically, a total number of 4,80,583 road accidents have been reported by Police Departments of States and Union Territories (UTs) in the country during the calendar year 2023, claiming 1,72,890 lives and causing injuries to 4,62,825 persons.
The number of road accident fatalities in India rose 2.3% to over 1.77 lakh in 2024, resulting in the death of 485 persons every day, Parliament was informed during the recent session.
These figures are enough to give us an idea how bad the driving style and skills we possess. Even though the ministry has taken up initiatives to deal with the growing road accidents but the initiative is yet to show any positive results.
Today it’s Sahil who become the scapegoat of a rash driving by a minor. Tomorrow it can be you or your child. It’s high time that we take responsibility to make roads safe. Or we shall be grieving another lost life.
(The author is a law student and a Human rights activist)
