Chandigarh road rage: Sheetal’s co-passenger says, she acted in self-defence, the man was drunk

While Sheetal’s medical examination at GMCH-32 has ruled out the presence of any alcohol or drugs in her body, police have also collected Nitish’s blood samples, which will be sent to CFSL, Sector 36, to determine if indeed he was drunk. As per the FIR lodged at the Industrial Area police station, Sheetal was charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, apart from other charges, and later arrested. A resident of Phase-10, Sheetal is a native of Pathankot and has completed Masters in Computer Application from a Pune college.

Injured Nitish Kumar. Express Photo

Speaking to Chandigarh Newsline, Kiran Arora said she had come in contact with Sheetal through some common friends who knew her mother, and that she has been living with her in Mohali for the last one and half years.

“Sheetal’s mother lives in Pathankot and her father passed away some years ago. She can be short-tempered at times. As for her family, all I know is that her elder sister is a medical practitioner in the US, and her younger brother lives in Punjab. She makes a living financing small vendors.’’

Recounting the incident that led to the altercation, Arora said, “Yesterday evening, Sheetal and I were having gol gappas from a vendor sitting on the side of the slip road. The incident took place when Sheetal was reversing my white SX4. The Santro car driver, Nitish Kumar, verbally abused Sheetal after our car hit his. He was drunk. Sheetal acted in self-defence. I told all this to the police but they only listened to the Santro driver.” On Wednesday, Arora visited the accused at the police station with her nephew and two advocates to meet Sheetal.

A police officer said, “Sheetal was arrested under section 317 (exposure and abandonment of child under twelve years) of the IPC at the Sector 34 police station in 2015. Later, she was acquitted by the court. She is a familiar face in Sector 44 where her aunt, Kiran Arora, runs a chemist shop. Arora was present with Sheetal when the incident took place at the slip road near the Sector 29 roundabout on Tuesday.’’

The FIR against Sheetal states that she “took out an iron rod and said ‘Sheetal se panga mat lena, mehnga padta hai’ (Don’t mess with Sheetal, you will pay a heavy price), and then attacked me with the rod.” She was booked under sections 323, 341, 308 and 506 of IPC as well. Nitish received four stitches on the head.