Hema Malini being rushed to the hospital after accident on Thursday night. (Press Trust of India photo)
Actor-turned-politician Hema Malini has been criticised for leaving the site of an accident after her speeding Mercedes hit a Maruti Alto last night, without reaching out to the victims of the accident, including two very young children.
A two-year-old girl was killed in the accident and her six-year-old brother is in ICU at a Jaipur hospital with fractures in both arms and both legs. They were travelling in the Alto with their parents and another relative; all of them were injured.
Witnesses at the site of the accident in Dausa, Rajasthan, said Hema Malini, 66, 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.
The driver was arrested later in the night and has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. He has been granted bail.
"We know she (Hema Malini) was also hurt but at least she could have inquired about the wellbeing of the family... (She could have) asked the doctors to give (the family) proper treatment," said a relative of the child who died, news agency IANS reported.
On Friday evening, Hema Malini issued a statement expressing "deep sorrow" over the child's death. "I can realise the hard time the family is facing after her death. I pray to god to give them strength to bear this loss," her statement said. She also said that the incident was "most unfortunate".
On social media people asked why the MP had not stayed to help.
Some supported her.
While Hema Malini was driven to Jaipur's private Fortis hospital by a local BJP leader, the injured children and others were first taken to a government hospital in Dausa. From there, the family says, it arranged for an ambulance to take the six-year-old boy and his mother, who has multiple fractures, to the Sawai Madho Singh Hospital in Jaipur about 60 km away.
(Two-year-old Chinni, who was killed in the accident)Harsh Khandelwal, the father of the child who died, and who was driving the Alto, says he wants no compensation. Speaking with great difficulty at the Jaipur hospital where he too was treated for injuries to the legs and collar bone and for fractures, Mr Khandelwal said he only expects the family to get good treatment for the injuries, he said.
His wife has not been told yet that her daughter has died, Mr Khandelwal said.
Hema Malini had plastic surgery last night for wounds on her face at Fortis hospital.