Daijiworld Media Network – Beltangady (MS)

Beltangady, Jul 28: A Bolero jeep driven at high speed under the influence of alcohol by a group of youths collided with a bike, resulting in the death of the pillion rider and serious injury to the rider.

Anarghya (10), a fourth-grade student of a private English medium school in Ujire, was killed in the accident. Her father, Guruprasad Gokhale (40), was seriously injured.

Guruprasad was traveling from his house in Ujire to his ancestral home in Kalmanja Kudenchi. The Bolero jeep hit the bike at Seetu Mundaje on the national highway and did not stop. Anarghya was taken to a private hospital in Ujire and succumbed to her injuries while being transported to the government hospital in Beltangady. Guruprasad sustained fractures and is recovering at a private hospital in Ujire.

The occupants of the Bolero jeep attempted to escape after the collision via the Seetu-Karyathodi road, which leads to a forest. When they tried to return to the main road, locals and workers engaged in electricity line work stopped them and handed them over to Beltangady police.

It is reported that there were four youths in the jeep, with one managing to escape. Beltangady police have taken three into custody and handed them over to Dharmasthala police for further interrogation. It is said that the youths were inebriated.

Guruprasad Gokhale's ancestral home is in a remote area of Kudenchi in Kalmanja. Due to the difficulty of daily commuting, he rented a house in Ujire for his children's education. As Sunday was a school holiday, father and daughter were traveling to their ancestral home.

Anarghya was a brilliant student and is survived by her parents and a toddler sister.