BENGALURU: Three MBA students, all girls, were killed and two of their classmates were injured when their car toppled on NICE Road at Koppa Gate, near
Hulimavu, around 7.30am Friday.
Arshia Kumari (from
Andhra Pradesh),
Harsha Srivastava and Pavita Kohli (both from Jharkhand) along with
Shruthi Gopinathan (from Thrissur) and Praveen, JP Nagar resident from Bengaluru who was at the wheel, were heading to their college, Alliance School of Business, Chandapura, when the accident happened. All the students were around 23-24 years old and fourth-semester students.
Quoting Pavita, police said Praveen was speeding and did not heed their pleas to slow down. "The students in the Ford
Figo warned Praveen against speeding as there was plenty of time to reach college. But he didn't listen to them. When his phone rang, he suddenly applied the brakes and tried to steer the vehicle to the left when it toppled and hit the cliff adjoining the road," a police official said.
Accident: Trio seated in rear bore the brunt
Arshia, Harsha and Sruti, seated in the rear, took the brunt of the impact. Pavita, who was in the front, and Praveen, suffered minor injuries.
Hulimavu traffic police rushed the injured to a hospital with the help of locals and NICE Road patrol personnel. Police seized the car, which is attached to a car rental company, and have summoned the owner for inquiry.
“We’re not sure whether Praveen hired the vehicle or knew the owner and took it informally. We’ll know the details once the owner meets us,” the officer said.
Harsha and Arshia, who stayed in a PG accommodation near their college, had come to Pavita’s flat on Bannerghatta Road on Thursday evening for a sleepover. Praveen picked up the three girls and drove to Hulimavu, where Sruti Gopinathan stayed.
The bodies were shifted to Victoria Hospital for postmortem. Police informed parents of the girls about the tragedy. Sruti’s postmortem was conducted in the evening and the body handed over to her elder sister, Soumya. The bodies of the other two girls are in the mortuary and their autopsy will be done once their families arrive, police said.
TIMESVIEW
The dangers of over-speeding and using a mobile phone while driving cannot be over-emphasised. The tragic death of three students who fell victim to this lethal combination is yet another reminder that motorists must stay well within the speed limits and ignore the ringing phone until safely parked by the roadside. While it’s no surprise that young people are virtually tethered to their cellphones, drivers must exercise extra care not be in a tearing hurry to answer a call. While traffic police can run awareness campaigns about it, it’s finally up to us to follow rules andsave lives.
MBA students Arshia, Sruti and Harsha
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