'My baby was soaked in blood, I begged for help': 6-year-old dies after speeding car hits e-rickshaw in Delhi's Janakpuri; family recounts horror

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• Six-year-old girl dies after car hits e-rickshaw in Janakpuri
• Driver fled the scene but was later apprehended by police
• CCTV footage is being reviewed to reconstruct the accident

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A six year old girl died after a car allegedly rammed into the e rickshaw she was travelling in with her grandmother in West Delhi’s Janakpuri earlier this week. Police have since seized the vehicle and apprehended the driver.

The accident took place on the morning of February 17 near the Janakpuri Fire Station. The child and her maternal grandmother, residents of Lajwanti Garden, were on their way to school when the incident occurred.

Recalling the sequence of events, Mercy Xavier, the girl’s grandmother, said, "The rickshaw driver was driving very gently. Suddenly, a speeding white car collided with our rickshaw, and the three of us fell. I begged the car driver to take my baby to the hospital in his car. But he ran away."

According to the family, the elderly woman sought help from passersby as her granddaughter lay bleeding on the road.

The child’s mother said she was informed about the crash by hospital staff. "She stopped three to four vehicles and asked for help, but no one stopped," the mother said. It was eventually a nurse, assisted by another person, who helped take the injured child to hospital.

"If help had come sooner, maybe things would have been different," the mother said, adding that the car was speeding.

Both the girl and her grandmother were first taken to Mata Chanan Devi Hospital after sustaining injuries. They were later shifted to a more advanced facility in Dwarka, where the child succumbed during treatment.

In her statement to police, Mercy Xavier said that around 7.40 am she was travelling in an e rickshaw with her granddaughter when, near the fire station, a car struck their vehicle, causing it to overturn and throwing them onto the road.

Neighbours remembered the child as lively and cheerful. "Her grandmother would drop the child off at school and pick her up. We've seen her she was very cheerful. She had an older sister, and they lived with their parents and grandparents," said Georgina, a neighbour.

Police said the accused driver has been identified as Sanjeev and was apprehended on Wednesday.

"The accused driver has been identified as Sanjeev. He was apprehended on Wednesday. Statements of witnesses are being recorded, and CCTV footage from cameras installed near the fire station and surrounding areas is being examined to reconstruct the sequence of events," an officer said.

The incident comes weeks after a 25-year-old biker died in Janakpuri after his motorcycle fell into a pit dug by the Delhi Jal Board on the intervening night of February 5 and 6.