‘Not fair. We want justice’

Pooja’s mother Jaimala was inconsolable. Her husband Bhaurao Patil,an RTO agent,was also hurt in the incident and was being treated at Sassoon hospital.

“She used to go by bus everyday,” said Pooja’s uncle Gopal Janapurkar but on Wednesday she decided to take her bike and go along with her friend to the college. Residents of Shreekrishna Complex at Hadapsar,Pooja’s father Bhaurao Patil accompanied her till Pulgate where they picked up her friend Aditi Kamble.

That’s when the incident occurred where the driver hit Bhaurao and then Pooja who fell down from the bike after the impact of the accident and was crushed under the wheels of the bus.

“It’ s not fair. Why did she have to die? We want justice,” cried Richa D’Souza,who,along with Rajshree Pawar and other second year dental college students rushed to the casualty of Sassoon l hospital.

Dr Amita Mali,principal of Bharati Vidyapeeth dental college,too broke down while consoling the mother. Pooja’s cousins too gathered at the casualty and could not believe that a young bubbly girl with a brilliant academic career had died in such a manner.

Pooja’s relatives are waiting for her elder sisters Smita and Sarita (who are married and settled outside Pune) to arrive.

A huge crowd also gathered outside the house of 25-year-old Ram Lalit Shukla,who also died during the nightmare on the street. He hailed from Bharadwar village in Sant Ravidas Nagar of Bhadohi district in Uttar Pradesh. He had come to Pune six years ago and earned his livelihood from glass and aluminium fitting work.

“He had gone to see off a relative at the railway station and was returning to Kondhwa via Pulgate on his bike when the bus hit him,” said Ashok Shukla,relative. Several freinds and relatives gathered at the mortuary and mourned his death. A relative,Vinay Pandey,said Shukla was also an accomplished musician and played the harmonium very well. “He was very poor and his parents back home are also not well off. But he was fun loving,” Pandey recalled.