Ruthless driver sniffs out life of a child

KARACHI: Our country’s collective disregard for traffic rules and human life brought the life of a minor to a haunting end in an accident on Friday.
On her way to school with her father, four-year-old Sakina was crushed to death as two irresponsible bus drivers thought it fit to race through the busy MA Jinnah Road near the Mama Parsi Girls’ School. Preedy police station SHO Israr Afridi told The News that the four-year-old died while her father, Huzaifa, sustained injuries when a speedy bus, bearing registration number JB-1548, rammed into their motorcycle from behind.
Huzaifa took Sakina to the Dr Ruth Pfau Civil Hospital Karachi where she was pronounced dead on arrival, added the SHO. As is the case with every guilty driver, this one also made a dash for his life and his vehicle was set on fire by a mob. The driver was, however, later arrested by the police.
According to SHO Afridi, the police had immediately rushed to the site and also called in a fire brigade to prevent the bus from being burnt. The SHO added that the girl’s father in his statement stated that he was on his way to drop Sakina off to school when the speedy four-wheeler hit his bike from behind. He said the police handed over the girl’s body to the family after completion of legal formalities. Furthermore, SHO Afridi said that a case was yet to be registered as the family said it would file one after they were done with performing Sakina’s burial.
District South Senior Superintendent of Police Javed Akbar Riaz informed The News that the driver of the bus who had escaped, was arrested in a raid later in the day. He was identified as Muhammad Salim and was handed over to the Preedy police station as the accident had occurred in its jurisdiction. The police also detained the owner of the bus, Muhammad Azam. He was being interrogated to ascertain whether the driver was trained and the vehicle fit enough to be plied on roads.