‘We are all in deep pain… a family has been destroyed’

Harish was arrested from the spot and an FIR was filed at Sadar police station, but, he was let off on bail the same day. He has since been suspended from his job.

On Wednesday evening, Harish’s father Dharamveer Singh, along with his wife Poonam and daughter Bhawna, were seen sitting outside their locked house in Najafgarh. Harish was nowhere in sight.

Dharamveer, a conductor at Piragarhi depot of Delhi Transport Corporation, said Harish and wife left for his village near Bahadurgarh. “He was distraught when he returned home that day. He couldn’t stop crying. He kept saying ‘mujhse galti ho gayi (I made a mistake)’. He was inconsolable,” Dharamveer said.

“We are all in deep pain. Who would have thought something like this would happen. After all, nobody does such things deliberately. But a family has been destroyed,” he said.

Harish had told his family that he lost control while trying to avoid hitting another vehicle moving on the wrong side of the road. “But there was no question of him being drunk. It was early in the morning. He had only just left for work,” Dharamveer said.

Dharamveer said Harish had been a driver for over eight years and that he had mostly driven heavy vehicles. “He joined the Haryana Roadways only a couple of years ago. He used to drive a private bus before this,” he said.

While Dharamveer spoke, his wife and daughter left the room and watch from a distance, neither very willing to talk.

After a while, his eyes fill up with tears and he brings his hands together. “I can’t even meet the eyes of that lady (Gupta’s wife). But I would still like to ask for forgiveness… and my son will have to live with this forever. He will probably not be able to get a job easily. Now I am the only earning member in this family of five,” he said.