Two IT professionals were killed in a car accident in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area early Sunday morning after a Porsche, allegedly driven by a minor under the influence of alcohol, crashed into their motorbike. The minor received bail hours after the incident under the condition that he would work with the Yerwada traffic police for 15 days and write an essay on road accidents. Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday expressed shock and surprise over the Juvenile Justice Board taking a lenient view of the car crash. Fadnavis told reporters that the police have approached a higher court seeking permission to try the juvenile, who was granted bail, as an adult.
"The order passed by the JJ Board was shocking and surprising as it had taken a very lenient view of such a heinous crime. The Pune police had petitioned the board to allow them to treat the teenager as an adult as his age is 17 years and eight months. But the board kept the application aside by categorising it as 'seen and filed' and released him on bail which led to public outrage," said Fadnavis.
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Victims of the car crash
Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa, both 24, were on their way back from an impromptu dinner with a group of friends when the speeding Porsche hit them. Ashwini Costa, who hailed from Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, was riding pillion with Anis Awadhiya. Ashwini's mother, Mamta Costa, revealed that her daughter had planned to return to Jabalpur and had booked a ticket to surprise her father on his birthday in June.
“Just a day before the accident, Ashwini informed me that she will be returning home in Jabalpur and had booked her ticket for June 18 to surprise her father on her birthday. However, it ended this way,” she said.
Anis Awadhiya, originally from Pali town in Madhya Pradesh, had been working in Pune for about a year and a half. He had graduated from DY Patil College of Engineering in Pune. Dnyanendra Soni, maternal uncle of Anis, said the bereaved family includes the mother, father, and 21-year-old younger brother who is studying at the city’s DY Patil College.
Soni said Anis's father has a small printing press and his mother is a homemaker.