Actor and BJP lawmaker Hema Malini injured after a car accident in Rajasthan last week (Press Trust of India photo)
Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini has provoked fresh outrage with tweets this morning blaming the father of the child who was killed in an accident last week in Rajasthan involving her Mercedes car. She said the father, who is still in hospital recovering from his injuries, should have followed traffic rules.
Last Thursday, the BJP parliamentarian's speeding Mercedes crashed into a Maruti Alto in which Harsh Khandelwal was travelling with his family.
Mr Khandelwal's two-year-old daughter Chinni was killed and his six-year-old son suffered fractures in both arms and both legs. Others in the car, including his wife, were injured.
(Chinni, the two-year-old who was killed in the accident.)Mr Khandelwal reacted bitterly to the politician's tweets and said it was her driver - arrested within hours for rash driving - who hit him at high speed while he was taking a turn on the highway.
"I had my indicator on. I saw the road was clear and then took a turn. What traffic rule did I break? Was I speeding? Her car was at 150 plus speed. She is a big name but must at least think before speaking. Instead of blaming me... had my little girl been taken to hospital with Hema Malini she could have been saved now," Mr Khandelwal said.
Many on social media expressed anger on his behalf.
Witnesses at the site of the accident in Dausa said the 66-year-old politician, who was injured on the forehead, was driven away to Jaipur soon after the car crash in a private vehicle by a local BJP leader. Her assistant who was travelling with her, and the driver of her Mercedes also left with her.
Amid angry posts on social media, her daughter Esha Deol said last week that Ms Malini would provide financial aid to the Khandelwals. But the family said today they had not received anything.