Mumbai: 16-year-old girl crushed to death between 2 BEST buses at Worli depot

A 16-year-old girl was crushed to death between two BEST buses near the Worli depot on Tuesday when one bus dashed into the other as the driver was reversing the vehicle. While the driver, Gautam Bhalerao, has told the cops that the girl was speaking on her phone using earphones and could not hear the horn, an eyewitness has said that it was the driver's mistake. The Dadar police have registered a case in the matter and arrested the driver for negligence. However, he was later released on bail.

The deceased girl has been identified as Priti Manoj Kori, who was a resident of Worli village and an HSC student at Rizvi College. Speaking to mid-day, Priti's father Manoj Kori said, "The incident happened on Tuesday morning around 11.20 am when Priti was returning from her tuition classes. The driver was taking the bus in reverse when my daughter and four other people were passing from behind. Though the others managed to save themselves, Priti got crushed between two buses and received severe head injuries."

(Left) Deceased Priti Manoj Kori (middle) accused bus driver Gautam Siddharth Bhalerao (right) an eye-witness said that there was no conductor in the bus to guide the driver

"I was at the market when a passer-by called from my daughter's phone and informed me about the incident. He took her to KEM Hospital, where Priti was declared dead. Doctors performed a post-mortem and handed over her body to us. We did Priti's final rites on Wednesday," Manoj added. He further said, "Priti was not talking on her phone using earphones because she left them at home. Also, there are no records of any calls around that time in her phone. The bus driver is trying to save himself by giving false information. He should get the strictest possible punishment."

Eyewitness Ganesh Bhikule said, "I was present at the bus depot when the incident happened. The bus driver first drove the vehicle into the depot but as there was no space, he reversed it. No conductor was present in the bus to guide him. Priti and some others were passing from behind the vehicle when it dashed into another bus crushing the girl. It happened because of the driver's negligence." Speaking to mid-day, PSI Anjali Wani of Dadar police station said, "We have registered a case under sections 279 and 304(a) of IPC and arrested the accused bus driver. He was later released on bail."