Unresolved Hit-and-Run Cases Highlight Inequality in Hyderabad

At that time, Narsingi circle inspector Hari Krishna Reddy had told Deccan Chronicle that the police were verifying technical evidence, including CCTV footage, to trace the accused.

A fortnight on, there has been no update. When contacted, the CI said, “There has been no further progress regarding their identities or about the vehicle. They body of the victim is in the Osmania Hospital mortuary.”

On the CCTV footage and the man’s family, he said, “Nobody has come forward to identify the body. The CCTV cameras being located away from the accident spot, the footage has not been of much help.”

This is no isolated case of a hit-and-run death that has not seen progress, perhaps because the victim belonged to the lower economic strata.  In another case, on August 4, an unidentified 40-year-old male mendicant was killed while crossing the road late in the night under the Gandhi Hospital Metro station. The median between Metro Rail pillars is home to many impoverished people. There has been no progress in the investigation in that case too.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Prakash, who stays on the median, said, “Many people stay here. Some go to sleep near the bus station. At night, the drivers are drunk and so are the mendicants. Such incidents happen almost every night. The other day, my friend and I were sitting here, and a car rammed into the median. My friend suffered a head injury, and we took him to Gandhi Hospital. Police come, see, and leave. That’s it. Nobody cares too much for people like us.”

In the Cyberabad Commissionerate, of the 505 hit-and-run cases that have been registered, 376 remain pending. Among upmarket areas, Madhapur division reported 73 cases: Madhapur 21, Gachibowli 31, Raidurgam 21 up to July. Of these, 52 remain unresolved, despite having more CCTV cameras than any other commissionerate in the city.

Cyberabad traffic joint CP Joel Davis, speaking to Deccan Chronicle, said, “We can’t usually classify victims based on their social status. However, most of them are pedestrians.”

For the most part, unless the family of the victim presses the police to nab the accused, justice remains elusive.

In Rachakonda, 66 hit-and-run cases were reported from January to July. Out of these, 55 were cases where the victim died and 14 where they sustained injuries.

According to Rachakonda traffic DCP Srinivas, “Most of the victims of hit-and-run cases are pedestrians, mostly mendicants or labourers.”  Around 31 pedestrian deaths were reported in Rachakonda in the last three months. In one of the cases, a 44-year-old cyclist was knocked down by a speeding car reportedly being driven by a 25-year-old Air India employee, who was in an inebriated state.

The victim, a resident of Ramky Towers, belonged to a well-to-do family. The accused was arrested along with two others. The incident occurred in 2022, near the Botanical Garden at Kondapur, within Gachibowli police station limits. 

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, Santhana Selvan, Bicycle Mayor of Hyderabad, said, “Most of the persons dying in hit-and-run accidents are usually cyclists or pedestrians. The ones who come from well-to-do or middle class families get some sort of compensation but the poor who die in such cases don’t even get that. I remember a 2022 incident where a labour couple going on a cycle, was run over by a RTC bus. One of them died while the other was injured. We tried our best but could not get compensation for them.”

He said, “A girl from Suryapet was hit by a car while getting down from an RTC bus. Her father was a labourer, while she was the first female in their community to clear grade 10 exams with a good score. There was no compensation for her family. We held a silent candle march near the LB Nagar bus stand to express solidarity with her. The voice of the poor remains unheard; not even their deaths.”