SHILLONG: A woman vendor was killed and two others were injured when a mini-van hit them near the Military Hospital in Rilbong on Tuesday morning.
Twenty-two-year-old Pinky Begum, who sold kwai (betel nut) on the roadside, died on the spot. Her son and a pedestrian were injured in the incident.
SP (Traffic) Nangkiew Irat Syiem said the Maruti Eeco van with registration number ML05 D6195 was driven by Santosh Biswas, who is between 35 and 40 years of age.
Biswas was going towards Civil Point and on crossing the MES point, went off road and rammed into the roadside shop near the MES pump house, Syiem said.
“It also hit Pinky Begum who died on the spot. Her four-year-old son Imtiaz Ali and pedestrian Vikash Nath (31) suffered fractured legs,” he added.
Pinky was a resident of Nongsohphoh in Upper Mawprem. All four were taken to the Military Hospital by a police officer from the traffic branch.
Later, the body was shifted to the Civil Hospital morgue house for postmortem examination. The relatives of Begum said her two-year-old son, Rihaan Sunar, suffered minor injury.
While talking to reporters at Civil Hospital, Pinky’s sister Neelu Sunar vented out her anger at the insensitive behaviour of the bystanders at the accident site.
Neelu said her younger sister, who was present at the time of the accident, pleaded people for help but in vain.
“My other sister who was present there urged people to call an ambulance but they were busy taking photos. What is the need for that,” an angry Neelu told reporters outside the morgue. Help came after a traffic officer on duty took the injured to the Military Hospital.
Spirit of Good Samaritan absent
When asked about the allegations of the relatives that people were only mere spectators, the SP (Traffic) said, “People should have the spirit of a good Samaritan. People should call an ambulance on seeing such incidents.”
“People should not gather at the scene of the incident as it will not be good for the injured. It is also disrespecting at the same time to circulate the photos of such incidents as it will hurt the sentiments of the relatives,” he added.
