New Delhi:
More than 24 hours after the deadly road accident in Delhi in which a taxi was crushed by a speeding Mercedes, the deceased, a woman, remains unidentified. The driver is still in a critical condition.
The Mercedes was being driven by Congress leader Kanwar Singh Tanwar's son, Dinesh Tanwar.
The woman's family doesn't even know they have lost a daughter. But the man who rammed his Mercedes into the taxi is out on bail.
Dinesh had fled after the accident; he surrendered 18 hours later. The delay means he will get off lightly as it was too late for an alcohol test.
"There was a long time lag. It was too late to take him for a medical test. We have not been able to establish whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol," said H G S Dhaliwal, DCP, South Delhi.
If convicted, Dinesh will get a maximum punishment of two years in jail.
The incident comes barely two weeks after an Army officer's wife rammed her Honda City into an autorickshaw, killing two people. One of them, the autorickshaw driver, was the sole earning member of his family. He has left behind five daughters.
The family is shattered forever, even as the accused tend to get away quite easily.
"Our laws date back to 1860. Times have changed and two years' punishment is too little for an offence like this. We need to amend our laws," said Former Additional Solicitor General K K Sud.
The frequency of hit-and-run cases on Delhi's roads seems to have assumed alarming proportions. And the precious lives lost in these accidents often end up as mere statistics. The big question is - is it time for new, more stringent laws to deal with such cases so that there's a stronger deterrent in place?