A 23-year-old pregnant woman, returning home after her baby shower function, and her 60-year-old father lost their lives after a drunk taxi driver driving on the wrong side of the road rammed his vehicle into the victims’ car at Anakaputhur near Tambaram late on Monday.
Police said that M Padmanabhan (60), wife P Indrani (51), and daughter N Deepika (23) were returning home after the function at Ambattur to their residence in Santhosapuram near Medavakkam in a cab driven by Bhuvaneshwaran (23) when tragedy struck them. The couple, who are residents of Madurai, had come to Chennai to organise the baby shower for their daughter and take her to Madurai for delivery.
‘Accused drove car on wrong side for 7 km after filling fuel’
When the family was travelling on the Tambaram-Maduravoyal Chennai bypass road, the speeding taxi came on the wrong side, and dashed against the left side of the car.
Padmanabhan and the seven-month pregnant Deepika were grievously injured in the impact and were rushed to a nearby private hospital where they were declared dead on arrival.
The Chromepet traffic investigation wing said the accused, Manikandan (26), who was driving the car which caused the accident, was under the influence of alcohol. He is employed with an IT firm in Ambattur as a driver.
As the airbags in Manikandan’s car got activated, he escaped with minor injuries in the accident. Indrani and Bhuvaneshwaran also survived and are undergoing treatment at the Chromepet GH.
According to police sources, Manikandan had driven his car on the wrong side for about seven km after filling fuel for his car. Police have booked a case against Manikandan and arrested him.