Had Someone Spent 2 Minutes and Rs 17, My Sister Would Have Been Alive: Hit-and-Run Victim's Brother

It has been a week since 22-year-old Archana Pandya died in an alleged hit-and-run incident on the Western Express Highway in Mumbai's Goregaon suburb. The incident took place in front of the Vanrai Police Station, but the police are yet to identify and arrest the culprit.

Around 8 pm on May 13, when Archana - an employee of TCS - was on way home, she was hit by a car while crossing the road. It was her fourth day on the job. The family claims she lay on the road for 20 minutes, before being shifted to a hospital.

"Someone had to spend only two minutes and Rs 17 (as auto fare) to save my sister's life. Nobody did that," said her brother Siddharth Pandya.

Now, no eyewitness is willing to come forward and say what happened - which could give them a sense of closure, the family claimed.

Several people, they reason, must have witnessed the accident. Chances are some of them even helped carry the girl across the road to the footpath.

"There had to be people around and traffic would have to be blocked for a while," said Siddharth. "I have been to the spot four times but nobody has shared any information with me."

The family has now created a Facebook page to help gather information. They have also reached out to the Chief Minister's office and other politicians through social media.

The incident has also raised the question of non-functional CCTV cameras in the area.

"There are two CCTV cameras there. If neither camera is working on the Western Express Highway, that raises serious questions on our security," Siddharth added.

"I would like to appeal to whoever has any information to approach us. Otherwise I will never know how my sister died. My Archana has gone, but we have to save the next Archana," he said.