Shivshahi bus mows down toddler on Pune-Solapur Highway

PUNE: A three-year-old girl died after being run over by a speeding Shivshahi bus at Loni Devkar near Indapur on the Pune-Solapur highway on Tuesday morning.
Police said the toddler, Riya Premkumar Gautam, ended up on the highway while playing and was mowed down by the bus driver, who failed to spot her. The Indapur police have booked the driver on the charges of rash and negligent driving.
“The girl was playing alone in front of her house, which is at a distance of few metres from the Pune-Solapur highway.Engrossed in the game, she wandered off to the busy highway around 8am on Tuesday ,” an officer from the Indapur police said.
The officer said as soon as the girl reached the highway, the speeding Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation’s (MSRTC) Shivshahi bus arrived. “The driver did not notice the girl and ran over her,” he said.
The hirl’s mother was busy with household chores and her father had gone to work at the time of the accident, the police said.
“The girl’s family is from Uttar Pradesh and had migrated to Pune three years ago in search of work. Her father works in a small company in the MIDC area,” the officer said.
The accident occurred a day after a 25-year-old woman pillion rider died and her husband suffered injuries after their motorcycle was hit by an MSRTC-owned Shivneri bus near Wakad bridge.
The bus driver, who fled the spot after the accident, was booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code by the Hinjewaji police.