Woman falls off scooter, crushed by tanker

NEW DELHI: A 40-year-old woman was crushed under a tanker and her husband was injured when their scooter slipped on a pothole and fell on a road in outer Delhi’s Kanjhawala village on Friday night.
Locals told police that the husband was riding the scooter when he lost balance. He managed to hold on to the vehicle but the woman fell, and was crushed by a DJB tanker coming from behind.Police said that the tanker driver left the vehicle at the spot and fled. Eyewitnesses told cops that the tanker ran over her before she could get up.
The woman, Usha Chauhan, was taken to a government hospital where she died during treatment. Her husband was discharged on Saturday.
While registering the complaint, the woman’s husband told police that he had tried to overtake a car that had stalled due to the pothole. He took a right turn when his scooter slipped on the same road cavity.
“We have registered a case under sections of causing death due to negligence and negligent driving under the IPC. A search to nab the driver of the tanker has been launched,” said M N Tiwari, DCP (outer).
Locals said that this was not the first time that someone had met with an accident on the stretch. The potholes at the crossing near Kanjhawala Road and Ghewra Road are usually filled with rainwater, making it difficult for motorists to gauge its depth. Police said that they have pointed it out to civic bodies several times.
Police said that Chauhan and her husband stayed with their family at the Karala village in Begumpur. Her husband owned a private business, while Chauhan taught at a government school in Shahbad Dairy.
Her husband usually picked her up from her school and then went back to his workplace. The couple used to return home together later at night. Police said that Chauhan’s body was handed over to the family members after an autopsy.