‘I was to go with my father’

BENGALURU: Words failed Sangeetha (32), the older daughter of Anthony Joseph and Sagaya Mary, when Mayor Sampath Raj and the local corporator reached their house to pay condolences. In a choked voice, Sangeetha said, “If the apathy of the BBMP and other civic agencies continues, someone else may lose their family members due to bad roads. Only strict punishment for those responsible for the deaths of my parents will make them learn a lesson. Police should probe the case to ensure justice to my family.”

Speaking to Express, Sangeetha said, “It was 12.30am when my parents left home along with Aquila Sherine to the hospital. I was about to go with my father, but my mother stopped me. Before heading back home from the hospital, my mother told me they will reach home in about 15 minutes. After a while, we were shocked to hear my parents had met an accident and that the child was hospitalised.”
An autorickshaw driver took Sherine to a hospital immediately. “She lives with us and her parents Robert and Shalini live in Udhagamandalam. Sherine studies in first standard in a private school here,’’ Sangeetha said.

The girl’s parents rushed to the city on coming to know about the incident. Sherine is also in shock and has not been eating anything ever since she came to know that her grandparents are no more. “She does not remember what happened in the night as her head rammed againt the flyover parapet wall,” Sangeetha added.

“My parents were looking for a bride for my brother Deepak. My mother would tell us that they wanted to build a house for the two daughters,” she said. “My father’s eyes were donated while my mother’s eyes could not be donated as her head was crushed under the wheel of the bus.”