An actress shooting for a TV serial in a residential area here on Friday lost control of a car which jumped a pavement and crushed to death five-year-old E Satvik Reddy, and fractured the leg of Satvika.
Actress Aparna is now in police custody. Bystanders said she did not seem to know how to drive and was being assisted from the back seat of the vehicle by a driver. She may have accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, they said.
“The children were sitting on the steps of a park. The car crashed over the pavement and onto the steps. The boy was pinned down,” an eyewitness told Express.
The incident took place at 9.30 am Friday in a gated community in Reddy Colony under the Chandanagar police limits. The crew were shooting for the serial Indrani, and had allegedly not obtained permission from police or local residents. The sequence being shot required Aparna, alias Archana, to drive for a few feet before getting down from the car. Satvik, Satvika and her elder sister Manaswini, all children from the locality, came to watch the shooting. “As the director got ready to film, Aparna started the car and stepped on the accelerator. She lost control and ran over the boy,” an eyewitness said.
Police have registered cases under Sections 304-a (rash and negligent act leading to death) and 337 (rash and negligent act leading to injuries) against Aparna, manager Venkateshwar Rao, serial producer Vinod, director Sarath and the driver. Aparna and Venkateshwar Rao were arrested while the driver is at large.