No matter how hard they try, the night of November 12, 2006, refuses to fade from their memory.“I still wake up in the night thinking about it,” said Kurt DeLima. “It has been almost 10 months since the accident, but somehow I cannot forget that night.”Here’s what happened. It was an early Sunday morning (around 3:45 am). Six friends — Craig Perreira, Kenroy Jacob, Kurt DeLima, Mervin Pinto and Ronella Santamai with Alister Perreira at the wheel — went out for a spin after a long night of partying at Taj Land’s End.They were all drunk. With loud music, the Toyota Corolla was speeding along the Carter Road in Bandra. The driver lost control while taking a sharp U-turn and hit the footpath. The Corolla crushed seven, including two children and a pregnant woman, sleeping in the shanties on the footpath.On Thursday, after the High Court sentenced Perreira to three years’ rigorous imprisonment, DeLima returned from college at around 3 pm and messaged Perreira and later called him.DeLima, who was booked by the Khar police under the Prohibition Act, says he is not in touch with any of them who were in the car that night. “I am not in touch with the persons who were with me in the car. Though I have messaged or called some of them a couple of times, I have not met them in a long time,” he said.“He often wakes up at night and starts shouting ‘no, no mama no’. It seems he is going through the trauma of that accident,” said Margaret, his mother.Santamai, the only girl in the car that day, is a graduate with a new job today. “She is trying hard to forget the incident and doesn’t want it to be mentioned again,” said a relative. “She is not in touch with anyone, not even Alister. ”Perreira’s neighbours too feel sad for him. “He (Alister) used to be a helpful young boy who often took me to hospital when I needed treatment after I met with an accident. I do not know anything about his accident,” said Oscar J D’Mello.
