Days after a senior doctor of a civic-run Sion hospital was arrested after a car allegedly driven by him knocked down and killed a 60-year-old woman on the hospital premises, the deceased’s son has claimed that his mother was ‘deliberately’ run over by the doctor.
In a video, which surfaced on social media, victim Rubeda Shaikh’ son Shahnawaz Shaikh, claimed that his mother, who was receiving treatment at the hospital, had gone to change the dressing of the incision on Friday as she was advised to visit the facility regularly.
“My mother has diabetes and blood pressure as well. To avoid going home on Friday and returning on Saturday, she must have decided to stay put on the premises itself. Given her ailments, she must have slept on the floor when the doctor knowingly ran over her with his car and killed her,” Shahnawaz claimed.
The accused Dr Rajesh C Dere is the head of the forensic medicine and toxicology department at Sion Hospital.
The police, reacting to the video, said, “It is partially true what Shahnawaz is saying. The victim was unconscious minutes before the accident and some hospital staff said that they tried to move her from the spot, but she refused and kept lying on the ground. This is when, as per the CCTV camera footage, the accused started his car and ran over her,” said a police official.
The accused, Dr Rajesh Dere, didn’t confess much to the police, however, he confessed saying that he didn’t see the victim while driving outside the hospital premises. The accused claimed due to the height of his vehicle, he couldn't see the victim lying down.
Dr Dere was arrested by the Sion Police on Sunday early morning and was presented at Dadar magistrate court which granted him cash bail. The Police have collected Dr Dere’s blood samples and viscera, which have been sent to Kalina Forensic Science Laboratories for medical examination to determine if he was drunk during the incident.
As per police sources, the hospital staff didn’t cooperate with the investigation when CCTV footage was sought. “The staff kept saying that they didn’t have access to the camera. Despite repeated requests, they kept delaying it for the entire night. Moreover, the staff didn’t provide details of the victim to alert the family,” a source said.
Both – CCTV camera footage and details of the victim – were provided to the police the next morning, after a wait of more than eight to nine hours.
