8-year-old Ashita dreamt of being a teacher: Parents mourn her death in Delhi e-rickshaw crash

New Delhi, Aug 28 (PTI) Just a month after celebrating her eighth birthday, Ashita left home with a school bag on her back and dreams in her eyes to become a teacher, but she never made it to class that day as an e-rickshaw carrying students overturned in northeast Delhi's Maujpur area, police said on Thursday.

“Every day, I dropped her off at school in our vehicle. But that day, there was a pooja at home, and I had to rush for work. So my wife and two daughters, including the elder one, Ashita, went on their own,” said Manish Parashar, a private company employee.

“They looked for vehicles but couldn’t find any, as it was early. Then they saw Ashita’s teacher with her child in an e-rickshaw and decided to board it. A few minutes later, everything changed.” The e-rickshaw collided with a motorcycle and overturned near Maujpur Chowk in northeast Delhi around 7.30 am on Wednesday. Ashita suffered critical injuries and was rushed to Guru Tegh Bahadur (GTB) Hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

“She (Ashita) was the light of our lives. Now, our house has drowned in darkness,” Parashar told PTI, barely able to contain his grief.

“She made me a father. I just hope no other parent has to go through this,” adding, “Look at our cruel fate, everyone escaped except our daughter. She was our sunshine, always chirping around the house. She was the life of our family.” The police said a case under sections 281 (rash driving) and 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered at the Jafrabad police station. The e-rickshaw driver, who initially helped carry the injured child to the hospital, fled immediately after.

CCTV footage reviewed by the police shows the e-rickshaw moving at a high speed on the busy Maujpur stretch, colliding with a motorcycle before it toppled over on one side. Passersby can be seen rushing to lift the vehicle and help those trapped underneath.

Officials said efforts are underway to trace and arrest the absconding driver. “Teams have been deployed to identify the driver and establish the sequence of events,” a senior police officer said.

According to Delhi Traffic Police data, between January 1 and June 15, 2,30,617 challans were issued to e-rickshaw drivers in the city for various violations, including reckless driving, improper parking and operating without valid licences or outside permitted hours.

Though 1.2 lakh e-rickshaws are officially registered in Delhi, thousands more operate without valid documents, posing serious safety and congestion risks on already packed city roads, officials said.

“Authorities must wake up,” Parashar said.

“It is the responsibility of the MCD (Municipal Corporation of Delhi), the traffic police and the government to check if these people are even trained. Are they fit to carry children? Today we lost our daughter. Tomorrow, who will it be?” he said. PTI SGV SSJ BM SGV KSS KSS