- A 42-year-old woman died after her car plunged into a pond in Kolkata
- The incident occurred in the Prafulla Kanan (West) area of Kestopur
- Sumitra Das was practicing driving after dropping her daughter at school
A 42-year-old woman died after losing control of her car while practising driving and plunging the vehicle into a pond in Kolkata on Wednesday.
The incident happened in the Prafulla Kanan (West) area of Kolkata's Kestopur. A local resident said that the woman, Sumitra Das, had just returned after dropping her daughter off at school on a scooter. She parked the scooter, took her Hyundai Eon out of the garage, and set out to practice driving, during which the car plunged into a pond.
The car submerged completely in the water, and despite all efforts to save her, Sumitra could not be rescued and drowned. After a rescue operation lasting over an hour, the fire department and police team retrieved the car from the pond.
As the car emerged from the water, Sumitra's body was found inside the car with her face towards the rear hatch and her legs near the steering wheel, suggesting that she might have attempted to escape while the car was drowning.
Sumitra's husband, Krishnendu Das, had recently purchased the car, and Sumitra was practising for a driving licence test scheduled for August 22, police sources said. As a novice driver, she accidentally pressed the accelerator instead of the brake, causing the car to speed into the middle of the pond, the sources added.
Sumitra's body was sent to a government hospital for a post-mortem examination, and the police have initiated an immediate investigation into the incident.
