Delhi: Inna Makan had raised her only child, Saahil Dhaneshra, as tenderly as a flower, dedicating every penny from her earnings to providing him a better life. Even planning to send him outside of India after his last semester of college, Inna had never imagined she would see Saahil die at the age of 23.
On February 3, a speeding Scorpio rammed into a taxi and a bike in Delhi’s Dwarka, killing 23-year-old Saahil on the spot. Recounting the incident, Inna said she received an unassuming call at around 1 pm from the Sector 11 Station House Officer. They told her that they found a dead boy, and the registration number was linked to her phone number.
Inna had immediately asked the police to describe the boy, and the reply had her racing out of the house in fear. She described feeling as if life momentarily left her body and immediately got to her car to reach the accident site.
It took Inna 15 agonising minutes to reach the site at Sector 11 near Lal Bahadur Shastri College. Thinking quickly, she called her office employee and neighbour for help and asked them to reach the site before her. But nothing could prepare a mother for seeing her child in such a state
“When I reached the spot, I saw my boy, his bike in three pieces. It is a sports bike, a very heavy one, but it was lying in pieces, while my boy was lying on the road in a very bad condition,” Inna said, dissolving in tears.
“Even his jacket had been torn to shreds. That’s how bad the condition of my child was on the road.”
Unable to grasp the situation, she remained screaming for 10 minutes on the roadside.
The mother’s tragedy did not end there, as she relayed how her son’s body was poorly treated, from the ambulance at the accident site to the hospital.
“They didn’t even let me take my child to a private hospital,” Inna accused the paramedics and hospital authorities. I was taken out by the hospital security after I repeatedly asked them to give me Saahil’s body,” she said.
Inna claimed Saahil was killed by reckless driving for reels
In a video message posted on X, Inna gave additional details on the case, saying she raised her son as a single parent but lost him to someone’s recklessness.
“I raised my child for 23 years as a single mother. On February 3, my innocent child was blown away by a car. I am a helpless mother,” she said, appealing to media organisations and residents of Dwarka to support her in seeking justice.
Amid Inna’s claims, a video surfaced showing moments before the accident. The video was reportedly filmed by the accused’s sister for social media. The car had narrowly escaped hitting an oncoming bus right before the accident occurred.
Accused turned out to be an unlicensed minor
Meanwhile, the Dwarka Deputy Commissioner of Police said the accused had initially stated his age as 19 years, but during the investigation, he was identified as a 17-year-old, Akshatra Singh, who was found without a driving licence.
“When he was investigated, and his documents were brought, his age was found to be 17 years,” said the DCP.
The minor was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board and sent to an observation home. A case was subsequently filed at the Dwarka South Police Station under sections 281 (rash driving), 106(1) (causing death by negligence) and 125(a) (act endangering life or personal safety of others) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).
However, he was later granted interim relief on February 10 because he was a Class 10 student due to appear for his board exams.
Commenting on the interim bail, Inna said that the ACP and DCP assured her the investigation would be fair, adding that it was only today, February 17, that she received the post-mortem report.
Inna also claimed the car had several challans prior to the accident, all for overspeeding, and some issued in Uttar Pradesh as well.
Meanwhile, the DCP said that the accused’s father has also been charged under the Motor Vehicles Act.
As Inna reels with her loss and seeks to bring her son’s death to justice, she urged parents to be vigilant about road safety and appealed to the public to come forward in her support.
