Woman at the wheel causes death of child in freak accident

The deceased Pavithra, a Class 1 student, was playing with a few other children from the locality near her house on Vanniyar second street in Choolaimedu on Tuesday night. 

Around 9.30 pm, a Santro car, that lost control hit a stationary car on the street, which caused the car to start moving backwards. The car hit Pavithra in the head and she became unconscious. She was rushed to a private hospital first and then transferred to Kilpauk Medical College Hospital, but she was declared brought dead. Her father Duraivelan is a distributor of water cans in the locality and her mother Jayanthi is a housewife. 

The Santro car was driven by Preethi, a 23-year-old housewife. Her husband Deni Williams was in the passenger seat. 

According to the police, Deni had taken her driving in the neighbourhood to refresh her driving skills. Though Preethi has a valid driving licence, she had not driven a car in a long time. The couple is said to be newly-married and Deni Williams is a private firm employee. The Anna Nagar traffic police registered a case and arrested Preethi under Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304A (Causing death by negligence) of IPC. 

Pavithra’s relatives were in shock after the incident. According to a family member, the child died on her mother Jayanthi’s birthday, and both parents were inconsolable. 

Meanwhile, a few men attached to Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi (VCK) led by an advocate gathered in front of the police station opposing the arrest of Preethi. However, police held talks with them, which delayed her remand by a few hours.