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This is an archive article published on June 7, 2022
She loved cycling, wanted to become a policewoman: Day after death of 16-yr-old while going to school, a family in mourning
Family decides to donate her eyes so ‘somebody else can see thanks to her’
The girl, Neelima, and her friend, Baby (15), students of SKV Karala, were hit by a Bolero pickup van while cycling to school in Delhi’s Kanjhawala area on Monday morning. (Express)
The 16-year-old girl who died while cycling to school wanted to become a police officer, her grandmother said on Tuesday. The family also said they had decided to donate her eyes.
The girl, Neelima, and her friend, Baby (15), students of SKV Karala, were hit by a Bolero pickup van while cycling to school in Delhi’s Kanjhawala area on Monday morning. They were rushed to the hospital, where Neelema (16) was declared dead on arrival. She was cremated on Monday.
Pranav Tayal, DCP (Rohini), said, “The accused driver, Vijay Pal, took them to the hospital but then absconded. He was traced and arrested with the aid of CCTV footage.”
Neelema’s grandmother Manorama recalled the last time she saw the 16-year-old: “She left for school around 6 am. I asked her if she wanted parathas for lunch, but she only wanted some rice. I told her to ride carefully, and she headed down the street. That was the last time I saw her.”
Neelema lived with her grandparents, aunt Hemalata Tiwari and uncle Avinesh Tiwari, an auto driver. Her parents live in Etah in Uttar Pradesh. “She was a studious child, and the class monitor. She wanted to become a police officer. I remember when the class 9 results were due, she did not eat the whole day. Once the results were announced, she went out and bought sweets to distribute to the whole neighbourhood,” Hemlata said.
Her friend Tanisha (12) recalled, “She used to teach all the girls how to dance during temple events. She also used to give me rides on her cycle and teach me mathematics.”
Manorama too said that Neelema was an avid cycler. “She had been asking her grandfather to buy a secondhand cycle for her. Whenever she got any money, she would save up for it. When we finally got it for her birthday, she started cycling all the time around the neighbourhood.”
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On the family’s decision to donate her eyes, Hemalata said, “We have already lost Neelema. At least somebody else can see thanks to her.”
Her friend Baby was meanwhile shifted to the Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital in Mangolpuri. The girl’s father, Jitender Kumar, sells vegetables and spices for a living.
“Yesterday her condition was very serious and she was in the ICU. She was unconscious. Now she is in better condition. I donated blood for her as well,” said her brother Avinash.
He recalled how Neelema and Baby were inseparable ever since they started going to the same school three years ago. And after Neelema got a cycle for her birthday three months ago, they had started riding to school together.
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“Baby has asked a few times about Neelema. We have not told her that she is dead,” Avinash said.
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