Heartlessness snuffs out life

Heartlessness snuffs out life
Deccan Herald

Bangalore may have grown from being a Garden City to the Silicon Valley of India over the decades. But whatever happened to its heart during this transition?

Bangalore may have grown from being a Garden City to the Silicon Valley of India over the decades. But whatever happened to its heart during this transition?

Kayia Florence (21), a Manipuri girl, was riding pillion on her friend, Sunil’s bike on her way to a job interview on Tuesday afternoon. A Tamil Nadu registration bus hit the bike on Jayanagar 4th Main, 22nd Cross near Nanda Theatre.

The rider lost her balance and fell to the left, while Kayia fell to the right and went under a rear wheel of the bus. While Sunil with a broken leg was struggling to make sense of what was happening, Kayia, who had arrived in the City only a fortnight ago in search of a livelihood, was stuck under the wheel of the bus and was flailing her arms.

In the melee, the bus driver managed to escape leaving the bus with commuters behind. Within no time, there was a crowd around Kayia. But no one had the courage or the basic decency to do anything. None of them even called the police or an ambulance.

Shaan, a housewife, who happened to be on the spot, was in tears while narrating the sordid story, “Unfortunately, I was a witness to the entire drama.

For nearly 15 to 20 minutes, not a soul took the initiative to help the girl or even go near the spot. Forget taking her to hospital.

The girl’s legs were stuck under the wheels and I could see her hands shaking. I tried to lend a helping hand but the public stopped me from going anywhere near the girl, saying the police would take care. You are inviting trouble.

“My husband and I immediately went to a nearby private hospital and asked for an ambulance but they flatly refused.

By the time we managed to get an ambulance and get back to the spot, police had taken charge. But the girl was still under the wheels.”

She was dead.