A woman’s legs were crushed by a speeding truck when she fell off her scooter after an AIADMK flagpost erected on the side of Avinashi Road in Coimbatore tilted towards her on Monday morning.
The accident occurred on a day when the Madras High Court granted conditional bail to Jayagopal, the main accused in the banner-related death of techie Subasri , who came under the wheels of a lorry when an AIADMK banner fell on her in Chennai two months ago. The victim, N. Rajeswari, 30, from Singanallur, worked in the accounts section of a hotel at Chinniyampalayam.
According to C.R. Sivan, a relative of Ms. Rajeswari, she applied the brakes after an iron flagpost erected on the side of Avinashi Road near Goldwins bus stop tilted on to the road. She lost control of the scooter and fell on the road. The lorry, which was behind her, ran over her legs and hit another two-wheeler. The accident took place around 9 a.m., when she was barely three km from her workplace.
“She was admitted to a nearby private hospital where a seven-hour-long surgery was performed. We were told that the nerves of one leg had been badly severed in the accident. The other leg was completely fractured. She was still unconscious on Monday evening,” said Mr. Sivan.
He added that Ms. Rajeswari is the sole bread-winner of her family. Another employee of the same hotel, who witnessed the accident, was called to the police station. The police allegedly told him to state that the accident had not been caused by a flagpost.
Coimbatore City Police Commissioner Sumit Sharan told The Hindu that the cause of the accident would be investigated.
While some claimed that the flagpost had been erected to greet Chief Minister Edappadi K. Palaniswami, who arrived from Chennai en route to Salem on Monday evening, others said that poles were erected in connection with a marriage reception hosted by an AIADMK functionary on Sunday.
Soon after the accident, all flagposts in the area were removed.
