Vadodara crash: Critically injured man, unaware of wife’s death, keeps asking for her

Hemali and Purav were among the eight people hit by a speeding Volkswagen Virtus, driven by Rakshit Chaurasiya, a law student at MS University. He “appeared to be under the influence of an intoxicant”, as also said to have detected in a narcotics rapid test kit run by the city police. Hemali was the only one who died on the spot, while Purav and four others sustained grievous injuries.Hemali’s nephew Parth told  this newspaper that Purav, who is in a semi-conscious state but critical, has been asking for his wife. Parth said, “We cannot tell him right now that she is no more… He is critical and on ventilator support. He is unable to speak, but trying to communicate by scribbling with one hand on a paper. He wants to know where Hemali is, but we have not answered his question… What do we tell him?”

Parth said that Hemali and Purav — married for over a decade — have been extremely close to their extended families. “For all of us, one is already gone and we are not sure if he (Purav) will make it, as per the doctors’ opinion… We can hope, we do not know how the recovery will be… Hemali and Purav’s parents are not in the frame of mind to even eat. It is the hardest time that our family has faced, all because of a person who took to the wheels under clear influence of an intoxicant.”

According to the family, the “full-of-life, bubbly and ever-welcoming” Hemali was a homemaker since her marriage to Purav who works at a private company in Savli. However, Hemali had been a national-level Kabaddi champion, who represented Gujarat. The second among four siblings born in a Chaklasi-based family in Kheda district, Hemali was the family’s go-to person, even after she moved to Vadodara, following her marriage to Fatehgunj-based Purav. The couple has no children, but Hemali’s family remembers her as a doting aunt to her nieces and nephews. Hemali’s elder sister and younger brother, both settled in Australia, are devasted with the news of her death.

Breaking into tears as words sputtered, Hemali’s sister Nidhi said, “I was extremely attached to my sister and it is impossible that I am going to forget her… I cannot imagine how life would be without her when I used to turn to her for every little things ten times a day. It’s been a few days, but even now, everyone keeps calling out for her, still unable to process what has happened… It cannot sink in…”

The family, through Nidhi, has roped in an advocate to stand in with the prosecution for the family to ensure that Chaurasiya is not shown any leniency.

Nidhi added, “The punishment should be so severe that anyone else who intends to drive after consuming alcohol or drugs, gets deterred… There can be no other way.”

Parth, who is also an active member of the BJP’s youth wing, said, “We think the driver took drugs before driving the car… Today, this has happened with our family and we are not in the state of mind to comprehend why or how… Even if God comes himself, our pain will not reduce. We can only implore the police that the case should be water-tight and fast-tracked to ensure that the culprit and his accomplices are not left scott-free. The provision of ten years of punishment in a regular accident case cannot apply here. It will not be sufficient… The government must step in and invoke stricter sections.”