Koppal: The Supreme Court guidelines about Good Samaritans coming to the rescue of accident victims and Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Yojana, a humanitarian scheme from the state government, to provide trauma care to road accident victims within the golden hour did not come to the rescue of 18-year-old Anwar Ali Ekalaspur, who died in Koppal town after being hit by a speeding KSRTC bus.
“Not only the bus driver, even the onlookers were equally responsible for my brother’s death. No one came to his help when was pleading to take him to a hospital. Instead, they were busy taking videos and clicking pictures. If someone had cared, my brother could have been saved. More than 15-20 minutes were wasted,” Ali’s mourning brother Riaz said.
Riaz said that Anwar, who was studying in the tenth standard, was the sole breadwinner of the family, which consists of two younger brothers, sister and their mother. His father died four years ago.
As usual, around 8.40am on Wednesday, Anwar was cycling from his residence at Devaraj Urs Colony to the market area where he worked in a tiles shop when he was hit by the bus going towards Hubballi from Hosapete. The bus crashed into him and he sustained grievous injuries. He pleaded with the people to take him to a hospital. But, onlookers did not do anything, fearing harassment from the police and hospital, eyewitnesses said.
Shivaraj, a degree college student who claims to be the first person to offer help to Anwar, said that he was shocked to find people recording the incident on their mobiles instead of shifting Anwar to hospital. “I offered him water and called the 108 ambulance. When I sought help from an auto driver, he refused to shift him,” he said.
This young Samaritan said that the police should educate people about the Supreme Court's rules about helping accident victims. He also stressed that the need to give more publicity for the Mukhyamantri Santwana Harish Yojana which is yet to reach small towns.
Koppal district surgeon Dr Suresh Danaraddi said that Anwar was brought to the hospital around 9.15 am in a critical condition, and doctors tried their best to save his life, but in vain. "His pelvis was crushed. He died of injuries and haemorrhagic shock around 1.20 pm,” he said.
He said people still fear harassment by police and hospitals if they shift accident victims. “There are clear guidelines by the Supreme Court. Doctors and police won't harass any person who brings in accident victims to the hospital and we won't include their names in medico-legal cases. People needn't fear harassment,” he said.
The police have registered a case against the bus driver, but said they cannot take action against onlookers for not offering help to the victim. “It is up to the people to show humanity to someone who is pleading to save his life,” said a police officer.
Local residents complained that the spot where the incident took place is an accident-prone area and authorities have not taken action despite repeated incidents there.
