15-year-old dead in hit and run, family says police did not do enough: ‘All we want is a fair probe’

At their home in West Delhi’s Mayapuri, the family told The Indian Express on Tuesday that they kept searching for her and also called police, but “nobody helped”. Little did they know that Priya had been hit by a vehicle less than 5 km from her residence.

“She was happy to return to school recently. We remember she was reading, and had decided to meet her bua, who lives 4-5 km from our house. Her aunt helps her with studies. We had told her to come back soon. I wish I had never allowed her (to go). She was a hardworking and sweet girl. We don’t know what to do now,” said Balram, her father, who works as a helper in a private firm in Delhi.

Priya studied at Sarvodaya Kanya Vidyalaya near Clock Tower. On Saturday, she went to school in the morning and returned home in the afternoon. Her mother, Suneeta, said she had been pushing her parents to buy her a new kurta.

Around 6 pm that day, she left the house. And around half an hour later, Priya was run over by a car in Mayapuri. According to her family, the accused driver, Ravi Prakash, took her to the hospital and allegedly fled from there. At Deen Dayal Upadhyay hospital, doctors said she died during treatment. She had suffered injuries on her head and back.

Her family was meanwhile busy looking for her. Rahul, her brother, who works at a shop in the area, said, “I was worried because our aunt called and said Priya wasn’t at her place. I took my friends and searched for her everywhere. We called the police but they kept saying that my sister must be with her friends. I went to all shops and restaurants in the area to look for her. At night, we went to police station and reported that she was missing. We pushed them to file a kidnapping case. We thought someone had taken her.”

On Sunday afternoon, the family said they received a call and were told that she was at DDU hospital. They said the police met them there and told them their daughter had died in a road accident.

“ I was devastated… I was crying… the police asked us to take the body… but my wife and other family members pushed for a medical report and an FIR,” said Balram.

Around 2-3 hours later, Prakash was arrested and booked under sections of rash driving and causing death by negligence. He was released on bail later. Delhi Police denied the allegations, saying they registered a case as soon as the body was found. DCP (West) Ghanshyam Bansal said, “The accused was absconding. Our team scanned over a dozen CCTVs to identify him and arrested him in a day.” Police said Prakash, who works as a DTC driver, was allegedly taking a sharp turn when he hit the girl.