‘Drunk’ law student crashes car into divider, 2 of her friends die

NEW DELHI: A joyride ended in tragedy early on Sunday when a law student allegedly driving in inebriated condition crashed the car, an i20, into a divider near Hudson Lane in Mukherjee Nagar, killing two of her friends. The two students killed, Ritesh Dahiya (21) and Siddharth Singh (20), were in the rear seat. Dahiya was a second-year B.Sc student of Sri Venkateswara College while Singh was doing engineering from Maharaja Surajmal Institute of Technology in Janakpuri.
Diksha Dadu, the 19-year-old who was allegedly driving without a valid licence, and another friend, Joshita Mohanty, survived due to airbags. The fifth friend, Rashi Sharma, who was seated between Dahiya and Singh, suffered a fractured collarbone.





Police said the friends first attended a college festival in Noida, then went to a pub in CP. Around 1am, they drove towards Murthal (about 50km from Delhi) to eat. Citing Diksha’s statement, cops said she lost control of the speeding car at a T-point and crashed into the divider. The car turned turtle and stopped after hitting a traffic signal.

A passerby alerted police about the accident at Mukherjee Nagar. After reaching the accident site, cops pulled the students out of the wreckage after breaking the window panes of the car. All five were taken to Sushrut Trauma Centre near Civil Lines where doctors declared Dahiya and Singh dead.

Police arrested Diksha under various IPC sections for causing death due to negligence (304A), rash and dangerous driving (279) and drunken driving, deputy commissioner of police (northwest) Aslam Khan said. “She did not have a valid driving licence. Her learning license also got expired in October last year,” DCP Khan said. She was granted bail on Sunday afternoon as the offence was bailable.

The two injured girls have been identified as Joshita Mohanty (19) and Rashi Sharma (20). The three girls were firstyear law students at Amity University in Noida. The bodies of the two students were handed over to the families on Sunday evening after an autopsy. Dahiya is survived by his father and mother, who run a boutique in Sonipat. Singh was also the only child of his parents. His father works in a private company in Noida.