The Bhutanese Leading the way.
On 9th June at the Chubachu-Jungshina highway at Zilukha, a speeding Creta vehicle hit a 20-year-old woman crossing the zebra crossing. The vehicle hit her twice and then dragged her underneath the car for 30 to 40 meters from the zebra crossing.
The 20-year-old woman who is a class 12 pass out had just won a scholarship from the RCSC to study MBBS in a medical college in Chittagong, Bangladesh.
The victim said her census is in Zhemgang, but she has been a student and resident of Gelephu since they moved there from class 7. With a science background and good grades, she managed to win the MBBS scholarship.
In order to complete the paperwork and other formalities, she had come to Thimphu from Gelephu three weeks ago and she was staying with her mother’s younger sister and her family in Zilukha.
On that fateful day, she was going to the bank to get her International Debit card which she would need in Bangladesh.
“I reached the road and looked on both sides and saw the Creta, which was far away and so I started to cross the zebra crossing while talking to my Aunty on the phone, and then out of nowhere the speeding Creta hit me hard, threw me up in the air and hit me again and dragged me under the car for quite a distance,” said the victim.
The victim’s mother who has come from Gelephu to Thimphu said, “My daughter told me she was under the car for quite a while being dragged, and she wondered when the car would stop.”
The victim said that after being dragged under the car for a distance, it finally came to a stop and she was under the car for a few minutes.
She said, “I could hear some men who came and lifted the entire Creta away and pulled me out and rushed me to the hospital. I passed out when I reached the emergency.”
She remembers there was no traffic police at the spot at the time, as the accident had just happened.
The victim luckily did not suffer any bone breaks but she had major abrasions on her legs, hands, head and back.
The mother said, “Her wounds are quite bad and all over her body, and her back looks like someone intentionally peeled of her skin there.”
The accident came at a very unfortunate time for the MBBS student, as she was supposed to fly to Bangladesh the very next day for admission to the medical college.
The mother said looking at her daughter’s extensive wounds, she would need at least three weeks to recover and it was only a day ago that she could walk unassisted.
The victim said she was supposed to go to her medical college in Chittagong, fill up the admission papers and submit her original marksheets to secure her MBBS seat.
“Now that I have not been able to go for the MBBS admission on time, I might miss this whole year going into the next year, and this is a very saddening thought for me,” said the victim.
The victim said the only hope as advised by RCSC is to somehow send her original documents to the medical college and attempt to get admission this year.
The victim said she is determined to accomplish her dream of becoming a doctor and serving the country. The MBBS course takes 5 years of study and one year of internship.
The victim said that the driver was a young female driver in her 20s and even though the zebra crossing is there, she did not slow down or stop her vehicle.
The victim suspects that she was dragged for a long distance because the driver probably wanted to do a hit and run, but could not as she was being dragged underneath the Creta.
A police official said the victim was very lucky that the cars tyres did not run over her, which could have led to broken bones and even death.
The victim, through this paper, requests drivers to slow down near zebra crossings as zebra crossings are the only designated safe zones where pedestrians can cross the road.
The accident generated a lot of public comments and a discussion on road and traffic safety.
Around 40 to 45 minutes after the accident a reporter from The Bhutanese reached the spot. The reporter went around and interviewed two eyewitnesses who live in a building nearby saying they saw a ‘young boy’ being pulled from underneath a car.
The reporter then talked to a RBP official who came to the spot and in the din and sound of the passing cars asked if the victim was a ‘young boy’ as reported by the two eye witnesses. The RBP official nodded and even indicated the height of the victim by holding up his hands.
After this triple confirmation the reporter put up a picture and facebook post around 4 pm on Monday saying a young boy had been hit by a Creta driven by a young woman.
The news went viral and there was widespread condemnation of the incident.
Towards the evening, after a few hours, BBS posted news about the same accident saying the victim was a 20-year-old woman.
The reporter then called 113 and asked if a ‘young boy’ had been hit with a vehicle at Zilukha and the police official at the end of 113 confirmed it was a ‘young boy’ who was hit.
The reporter then called a senior traffic official who finally said it was a 20-year-old young woman instead. The paper immediately edited and corrected the post and apologized for the mistake.
The paper asked the victim and her mother why there was so much confusion about her being a ‘young boy’ by so many people.
The victim’s mother said, “My daughter has short hair, dresses almost like a boy and walks like a boy, which is why she must have been mistaken as a boy by people at a distance.”
The victim, with a laugh said, “I kind of look like a boy and I was wearing a pant and shirt that day and have short hair and so the confusion must have happened there.”
The driver was detained for two nights and then got bail. The RBP is investigating the case and will charge sheet it to court soon.
