By IANS
New Delhi : For the second consecutive day Tuesday, hundreds of Delhi University (DU) students protested the death of an 18-year-old girl student who was crushed by one of those notorious Blueline buses while trying to avoid a speeding motorcycle just outside her college.
Pearl Gupta, a first year student of Aditi College, was killed when a notorious Blueline commuter bus, plying on Route No 106 between Bawana and Delhi railway station, ran over her Monday morning.
Amrita Bahari, president of the Delhi University Students Union (DUSU), who participated in the protest following Pearl’s death said that her dead body was lying on the road for a good one hour before being taken away by the teachers of the college.
“Pearl was with a friend, Parul, who was injured in the accident. Not one person came forth to help the girls…and later when the girls of the college protested against the incident, one police officer rebuked them.
“When I tried to intervene, Rajib Singh, the police officer, remarked callously ‘the girl was not family, why create the fuss?'” Bahari said.
“Infuriated, I and three other girls of the college went to the police commissioner, Y. S. Dadwal, today and submitted a memorandum demanding his suspension,” Bahari told IANS.
They also demanded security outside the college, which is situated in an isolated area in northwest Delhi, in Bawana, and other measures such as the building of speed-breakers on the road outside.
“The police commissioner gave us a positive response and assured us that he will take all the necessary action,” Bahari said.
Police said Pearl, her classmate Parul and their friend were getting down from a Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) bus at a stand near their college when a motorcycle rider hit them.
While the other two fell on the pavement, Pearl fell on the road and was run over by the Blueline bus. These buses, dubbed ‘killers’, have already claimed 105 lives in the capital and the Delhi government has said it will phase them out soon and get modern buses run by trained drivers to replace them.
All three were rushed to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared Pearl brought dead. Parul and her unidentified friend were recuperating from minor injuries, police said.