75-year-old comes under wheels of DTC bus, may lose both her legs

NEW DELHI: Ganga Devi was keen to reach her brother’s house in south Delhi’s Khanpur to attend the wedding of her niece. She had told her family members that she would call them after reaching there safely. However, her excitement was cut short when the 75-year-old Devi came under the wheels of a DTC bus she was trying to board at east Delhi’s Samaspur bus stand on Tuesday afternoon. More than 24-hours after the accident, Devi lies in pain, with both her legs likely to be amputated.

Senior police officers said that the incident happened at 2pm on an AC DTC bus, bearing registration number DL 1PC 7150.


DCP (east) Jasmeet Singh confirmed that the errant driver, identified as Rajesh Kumar (32), has been arrested for dangerous driving and causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others.

A preliminary probe has revealed that the bus running on the route going from Pandav Nagar to Ambedkar Nagar bus terminal briefly stopped and the automatic gates opened up, Devi stepped on the footboard, but before she could enter, the driver accelerated. Cops said that she lost her balance and fell off the bus and the vehicle’s rear tyres ran over her legs before the driver could halt the bus.

As Devi lay in a pool of blood, the passengers and the driver of the bus rushed to help her. An emergency response vehicle of the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) reached the spot and took Devi to a nearby hospital where she was given first aid. However, the injuries were so severe that the woman had to be taken to another hospital where she underwent a surgery.

During this bedlam, someone stole the keys of the DTC bus, stranding the passengers on the highway. When the cops reached the accident spot, they took the driver into custody and a mechanic from Ambedkar Nagar bus terminal was later called in to get the vehicle started again.

Devi’s elder son Sanjay Rohilla said that the tissues of both the legs have been badly damaged and if there is no recovery in two days, his mother could lose both her legs. “My mother was physically fit and even went to the Kumbh Mela on her own. We will only get to know after two days if she will be able to ever walk again ,” Rohilla said.

The investigating officers are now scanning the CCTV footage from the highway to ascertain the exact sequence of events and have also taken the statements of other passengers of the bus. It is also being probed whether the driver was under the influence of any intoxicant. DTC spokesperson were unavailable for comments despite repeated attempts.