Ahmedabad: Teen crushed by SUV dies, juvenile driver’s father to face legal action

AHMEDABAD: After battling for her life for 24 hours, the 16-year-old girl who was hit by an SUV driven by a 17-year-old boy succumbed to her injuries at a private hospital late on Saturday night. The accident occurred on Friday in Thaltej.
The juvenile accused, who passed his Class 10 exam this month, was driving his father’s Fortuner. He is not entitled to a driving licence owing to his age.The city traffic police officials said the boy’s father and brother were summoned and that the father will face legal action in the case.

According to sources in city traffic police, Diya Prajapati, a Class 10 student at a Thaltej school, was walking outside her Sandipani Society residence at around 4.30pm when the speeding SUV hit her. Passersby rushed a severely injured Diya to a private hospital. The teenage driver tried to flee but was caught by members of the public and his family members were called.
An official of N division traffic police said, “The boy’s father, who is a land broker, told cops that he was not at home when the boy took the car key and went for a drive. We will file a separate FIR against the boy’s father in the case.”“We cannot take stern action according to the law. He cannot be arrested.” However, police action following this accident which took place in the area monitored by DCP (West) Neeta Desai raises questions.
Case shown as ‘sensitive’:
The FIR, which is required to be uploaded onto the Gujarat police website, has been put under the category of “sensitive cases” — usually, offences involving sexual violence fall under this category. The shocking incident comes close on the heels of a similar accident that occurred in Pune on May 19, killing two techies. A minor boy, who was allegedly driving his father’s Porsche Taycan at 200kmph, hit a motorcycle near Landmark Society on the Kalyaninagar-Airport Road in Pune. The police later arrested the boy’s father and grandfather in connection with the case and an alleged cover-up attempt.