New Delhi:
Divya Shakti, barely two months old, is too young to understand why he hasn't seen his father for the last two days. His elder brother, eight-year-old Adya Shakti, too keeps asking repeatedly for him. But their mother has yet not told the young boys that they have lost their father, an auto driver, in an accident. The auto Lalit Kumar Ojha was driving was hit by a speeding Mercedes in south Delhi's Vasant Kunj area on Saturday night. He died on the spot.
On the day of the accident, police arrested the Mercedes driver and detained two other people travelling in the car with him. A number of liquor bottles were also seized from the car. But hours later, the accused, whose father is a builder, was released on bail. Hashmeet Marwah, a 24-year-old graduate from a reputed city college, was reportedly drunk at the time of the accident.
Lalit Ojha, 40, came to Delhi from Orissa some 20 years ago. He was the only earning member of his family. With the 500-1000 rupees a day he earned by working as an auto driver, he supported his seven-member family. But now, his 86-year-old father is worried and visibly inconsolable. "What will I do now? How will I support my family? I can hardly move," says Markandeya Ojha.
His wife, however, tried to put up a brave front. "I have studied till 12th class, I can work," said Rajyalaxmi Ojha. But she knows she will also have to be around to take care of her two-month-old child and an ailing father-in-law. "Who will look after my baby and my old father-in-law," she is worried.
To help the family, send in your donation cheques to:Rajyalakshmi Ojha
Account no.: 002510100006506
Bank name: Andhra Bank, ASAF ALI ROAD
Bank Address: Ajmeri Gate Extn, 1/22A, Asaf Ali Road, New Delhi, Pin: 110002, Phone: 011-23230234/23233361
Bank IFSC Code: ANDB0000025