Tea, talk, then tragedy: Bandra woman fatally hit by Mumbai bizman's high-end car; driver booked for negligence

MUMBAI: A 60-year-old woman died when she was struck by a high-end car in Bandra (West) on Wednesday. The deceased, Kasturbhabai Chavan, was sipping tea while seated on the roadside when the driver started the parked car and it hit her, said the police.They said the driver, Jeeva Munecha (41), had offered the tea to Chavan before getting into the car around 8.30 am. They said Munecha failed to notice Chavan seated on the edge of the road on the left side as he accelerated his vehicle.

The police impounded the car, which is owned by Munecha's employer, a businessman from Bandra (West).Munecha rushed Chavan to Bhabha Hospital in Bandra (West), where she was declared dead on arrival. "Chavan was seated at a blind spot and Munecha did not notice her, leading to the incident. She died due to the severe head injuries. He was not drunk and had offered tea to Chavan before leaving the place. He has been booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 106 (death due to negligence) and 281 (rash driving) and under the Motor Vehicle Act section 184 (dangerous driving). He was allowed to go after issuing notice," said an officer at the Bandra police station.

Chavan, according to her daily routine, walked to the tea stall in the Chimbai locality in the morning. She met Munecha, who offered her tea, as was his usual practice. After talking to her for 10 minutes, Munecha sat in his car while Chavan remained seated near the car bumper. "Munecha did not notice her and ran over her. At the time of the incident, Munecha's employer was not present in the car. He had come to the tea stall after dropping his employer at a fitness centre, and the incident occurred while returning," the police said.Chavan's sons were in Pune for work when they learned about the incident from the tea stall vendor, Harish Gautam, who reported the accident and Chavan's head injury. They rushed to Mumbai. "We are annoyed with the police. We had informed them not to file any case and that we would settle the matter with the accused driver. We were even made to rush to Cooper Hospital to collect our mother's body after completing the post-mortem," Chavan's son, Bharat, told TOI.Chavan's sons reached Bandra police station on Thursday evening seeking clarity on the matter. They expressed dissatisfaction with how the police and hospital had handled the case, as their mother's body was yet to be handed over to them.