Death on the road accident

On January 16, 2012 at 8:50 pm, my cell rang, which is bit unusual. Normally my cell does not ring at that hour, but the phone rang because it carried very sad news. Pradip Dai told me, there was a news that Ritu had been hit by a bus on her way back home. He asked me, “why not you check with Rojan, [Ritu’s son] and then with her sister, wheather they know the news or not.” I was the only person who could have their number and at the same time I also live in same area where Ritu had been living for couple of years.

I had to dial some numbers, before I get Rojan’s number. When I spoke with Mirawati, she is the middle sister of Ritu, they were just back from the hospital. She confirmed the dreaded news; Ritu is no more with us. It was so hard to believe, what I have just heard. Then the phone just started ringing with more news and cry and disbelieve and the how this happened.

When the accident happened, Rojan was waiting for his bus at around 6:00 pm, one stop ahead, from where Ritu normally takes her bus, from Babar mahal. That Monday evening, it was unusually cold and it was getting late and to his surprise not a single bus was coming on time, after half an hour’s wait, he got on in one bus from the Bijuli Bazar bridge. Most of the time they used to find themself on the same bus if not all the time. When his bus reached at Koteshwor area, his phone rang. It was his aunt who had to deliver the bad news of the accident to him. He got off from the bus and then called one of his friend, who came to pick him up on his bike. Both of them rushed to the B & B Hospital.

When they reached the hospital he could not find his mother, so he called on her cell phone. A police man picked up the phone and told him the body had been rushed to the Patan Hospital. By this time his aunt had reached at the Hospital, with her two daughters and a neighbours to see the Ritu. All of them rushed to the Patan Hospital. Once, they were inside the hospital, the attending sisters did not let them see the corpse. Head of the Ritu had been disfigured in such a way that, such bloody graphic should be avoided to show any one even to the kins of the deceased and sure enough, not even to his own son.

How such horrific accident happened ? came to all minds, when the news floated. Urmila Thapa was a in close knit circle of of Ritu who also works in Traffic department, went extra miles to find out how such horrific accident happened. It unfolded that Ritu climbed on the bus, which was so overcrowded. She climbed on the bus but could not enter much inside of the bus, so she just squeezed herself on the door side trying to catch on whatever her hands could find in that dark. Just when the bus started rolling, a jerk like break made Ritu fall from the bus, and to her bad-luck; she bumped with an electricity pole and then came back again towards the bus, thus her head was crushed like a watermelon by the two powerful wheels on the back side of the bus. During all this process, the bus was still on the move. But more disturbingly news still awaited to surprise and to hit the common sense of the public when they hear this kind of news. Even after crushing the head, the bus driver was not slowing down, instead by this time he had picked up the speed on the road.

Two bikers, who were behind the bus which had just killed a life saw the corpse lying on the street with blood spilling from it which had, which has spread by now some 20 meters ahead with the wheels still on roll, without trying to stop. These two unknown bikers rushed ahead of the bus, and then pulled their bikes from two sides, in front of the bus [Madhyapur Bus Babasayi Sangh] and made the driever come out of the the bus. To the victims’ kins horror the passengers were not even bothered to find out what happened out their as no body was taking off from the bus, even its driver had vanished already, they were focused only to return home as soon as possible, as it was getting dark and that to fast. It could have took them another hour or so to teach to their home. The driver immediately vanished from the scene, fearing an irate public might mob him on the site.

Just like these two unknown bikers, the true civilized citizen of the country, there was one more silent helper, like that private taxi driver, who drove the body to the B & B Hospital and then to the Patan Hospital without a charge, just as any human being should have done at the time like that.

The next day kins were to go to the DSP office at Jawalakhel to claim the corpe from the hospital after a postmortem and then do all the needed for the last rite. Driver and the bus helper was out on the run but now they were in police custody. They had to pay the damage cost for the negligence, which took a life. It did not work out the same day as the committee member representing driver and the helper did not come to the table, to talk to ease the situation. A letter which the police office from Lalitpur SP office to Kathmandu SP office, should have sent to also got delayed the whole process.

The slow and staggering process from police side and the reluctance to come to the table to talk about the cost of damage, just boiled the young blood and they wanted to come on street to vandalized the bus that killed our friend and a mother of Rojan, who had only her to look after and take care of him.

On 18th of January, the document came at around 2:00 pm only at the MPR [Metropolitan Police Range], which should have came in the 1st half of the morning with top priority. This delay in documentation just boiled our patience, when we were waiting outside. But we may not have seen such cases daily however these police officers or staff are used to of this kind of cases day in and day out, so they wont rush as our minds rush and want them to hurry in their work.

Just about an hour ago the broiled crowed of ours was talking in muffle tones to do some damage to the bus of Madhyapur Bus Babasai Sangh, so that this kind of act will force the committee members to come and talk about the damage money, which they were delaying to taste the patience of kins and we so many friends, who had gathered out the MPR office at the Hanuman Dhoka. Rojan had called his college friends and with one call, there was a group from his college ready to vandalised the buses, if need be. but I requested them to wait until they proceed the document, which came bit late. We had to show some respect to the law, even though we feel its vanishing. Another news came that the drivers and bus helpers time to stay on remanded had been increased, this news just subdued our boiled temper. Therefore, we waited for some time and in the mean while we kept calling the Committee members to come and talk to us so that Rojan can cremate the body at the Pashupati at the earliest. Then at around 2:45 the committee members also came to sort out the case and then it was decided that the victims to get 5 lakh [ half a million Rs] as per the law of this country on such occasion. At last, on 18th of January, kins along with close close knit circle of the Ritu from Bal Mandir, they went to the Patan Hospital to claim the body and then went to Pashupati to for the last rite. All those delay made them stay at the cremation site until mid night of the day. some of them returned at home at 1:30 or only 2:00 am in the morning.