- In a few months from now, he was set to fly to his dream college in Manchester.
- A horrific road accident in Delhi snatched it all away
- Sahil Dhaneshra was killed after a Scorpio, driven by the minor, rammed his motorcycle head-on in Dwarka
In a few months from now, he was set to fly to his dream college in Manchester. A horrific road accident in Delhi snatched it all away.
Sahil Dhaneshra was on his way to the office on February 3 when a speeding Scorpio driven allegedly by a teenager rammed his motorcycle in Dwarka. He was 23.
Childhood photographs, medals hanging from colourful ribbons line the walls of his room. Quotes like 'D for Dream and Discipline' and 'Obsession is going to beat talent every time' - pasted on the walls - paint a picture of the future that could have been.
A final-semester BBA student, Sahil had secured admission for an MSc in Luxury Fashion Management in the UK. He had already received his acceptance letter and was preparing for the move.
"He did everything on his own. I had no knowledge about any of this. He would tell me he would manage it himself and figure things out, and I would encourage him," Sahil's mother, Inna Maakan, told news agency PTI.
According to his mother, he had planned everything to ensure his studies abroad did not become a financial burden on her.
"He had maintained a good CIBIL score and had carefully worked out every detail to secure an education loan for his Master's course," said his mother, a single parent, who now says she plans to wind up her real-estate business to focus on getting justice for her son.
Sahil lost his father in 2018. However, his mother, Inna, said he had never supported them in any way.
She added that Sahil had briefly reconnected with his father about a year or two before he died in 2018. The family has been living in Dwarka since 2013.
The accused, a 17-year-old boy, was driving an SUV, with his sister next to him when the vehicle collided head-on with Sahil's motorcycle, killing him on the spot.
In a voice choked with grief and anger, Sahil's mother said that a "fun reel" - a reckless stunt for social media fame - has crushed not just her 23-year-old son but all the dreams that she had built around him.
The accused, who did not possess a driving licence, was detained and produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), which sent him to an observation home.
On February 10, the Board granted him interim bail, citing his ongoing Class 10 board examinations, police said.
The teenager's father, however, said he was not in Delhi at the time of the accident and was unaware that his minor son was driving the car without a licence. "My son had stepped out with his sister to drop her at the metro station," he said.
"There is a college right in front of our main gate, so the area is usually very crowded," he added. According to him, his son attempted to pass between a bus and a motorcycle but was unable to negotiate the turn properly.
"I am also a parent. It was a mistake. I am very, very sorry," the father, who spoke in Hindi, told NDTV in an interview.
Responding to the teen's father's interview, the victim's mother replied: "The father of the accused is sorry for what? For finishing my life? Sorry after I spoke on the media? I say sorry for not accepting his sorry," she told NDTV amid nationwide outrage of yet another instance of underage driving claiming a life.
