Professor knocks down girl during driving lesson

CHENNAI: A professor of Pachaiyappa’s College in Kancheepuram was booked for knocking down a 19-year-old girl with his car in the college playground on Sunday. According to police, the professor, G Tamilarasu, was practising driving in the college playground around 11.30 am.

The Chemistry professor claimed to have lost control of the vehicle and knocked the girl down. She was returning to her home behind the college from a hospital in Chengalpattu where her mother was undergoing treatment for an ailment.

The girl, Nandini, a second year BCA student of the same college, was rushed to Government Kancheepuram Hospital for first aid and later shifted to the Government Stanley Hospital.  Her father, Gunasekar, a daily wage labourer, told Express that the girl sustained injuries in shoulder and is immobile due to severe injuries in the spinal cord.  

Gunasekar, who broke into tears during the phone conversation, said he is facing it all alone as he is unable to even inform his ailing wife about the mishap. Considering the family’s dire financial straits, a large number of students staged a protest demanding shifting the girl to a private hospital for a specialised treatment. The professor has been booked under IPC section 279 (rash driving) and 337 (punishment for causing hurt by act endangering life).