INDIA: CCTV footage shows Passersby ignoring traffic accident victims in a Jaipur street

Record ID: 1376928

  • Title: INDIA: CCTV footage shows Passersby ignoring traffic accident victims in a Jaipur street
  • Date: 15th April 2013
  • Summary: JAIPUR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA (APRIL 9, 2013) (ORIGINALLY 4: 3) (ANI-NO ACCESS BBC) POLICE OFFICIALS SITTING AND TAKING DOWN NOTES SPECTATORS STANDING MAN SITTING WITH AN INJURED CHILD WITH BANDAGED HEAD VARIOUS OF INJURED CHILD RELATIVES OF VICTIMS TALKING TO ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICIALS
  • Embargoed: 30th April 2013 22:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: India
  • Country: India
  • Topics: Accidents,General,Politics,Transport
  • Reuters ID: LVA81NUMDDP9BFHNXTPP1UOTS8QM
  • Aspect Ratio: 4:3
  • Story Text: A woman and her infant child killed in a traffic accident were lying in a street in India without receiving assistance from passersby, CCTV footage showed.
    The accident happened inside the Ghat ki Guni tunnel in the northwestern city of Jaipur on Tuesday (April 09) afternoon, when an over-speeding truck hit the motorbike on which the victims were sitting pillion, according to local media reports.
    The victim's husband, identified by local media as Kanhaiyalal Raigher, was seen in CCTV footage with his four-year-old son pleading for help to passing traffic but were largely ignored.
    "My son and I were shouting for help but no one stopped or came to our rescue. Passersby and several cars did stop to catch a glance but no one seemed to be bothered. Some cars almost touched the bodies as they passed by but nobody offered any help," Raigher told reporters on Monday (April 15).
    According to local media reports, the bodies of the woman and the infant were dragged along the truck for few meters after being hit.
    "We stood helplessly by ourselves for about 18-19 minutes, after which the police arrived and covered my wife's face with her saree and then started inquiring about our whereabouts and where we were headed. They made me sit in their car. Later, an ambulance arrived on the spot which was not well equipped, as it usually is (the case). They threw my wife's body in the back of the vehicle like garbage and took her to the hospital, but there was no doctor on call in the ambulance," explained Raigher.
    Mamata Sharma, chairperson of the National Commission for Women, said the authorities could have done more to help the victims in this tragedy.
    "It was the responsibility of the authorities sitting in the CCTV control room to rush to the site and inform the police. They did forward information in order to nab the truck driver but didn't initiate any action to help the accident victim, who kept lying on the side (of the road) for one and half hours. I believe that the woman and infant would have been saved if they would have received timely medical aid during the initial 15-20 minutes of the accident," said Sharma.
    Road accidents are common in India, where roads are often of poor quality. Reckless driving and untrained drivers cause thousands of accidents across the country every year, and the enforcement of road safety measures remains a huge problem.
  • Copyright Holder: ANI (India)
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