Two years on, hope of justice is fading for the families of the victims in the Pune Porsche case in which two IT professionals died in Maharashtra after being hit by a luxury car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy under the influence of alcohol.
The victims of the accident that took place in Kalyani Nagar area on May 19, 2024 have been identified as Ashwini Kushta and Anish Awadhiya.
Ashwini’s mother Mamata Kushta, who expressed despair over the investigation, said it was as if the law was meant for the common people only and not for the powerful. “Two years have passed, but nothing has happened… We are waiting for justice and those who killed their daughter are out on bail.”
Speaking to news agency PTI, she said: “It is very painful… My daughter is no longer there. These monsters have not been punished yet. They are roaming freely. It is as if the law is only strict for ordinary people, while powerful people can easily get away with it. But ordinary people like us are not listened to at all.”
In March this year, the Supreme Court granted bail to the father of the minor who was allegedly driving a Porsche under the influence of alcohol.
A bench of Justices B V Nagarathna and Ujjal Bhuiyan granted bail to the minor’s father, a prominent Pune construction worker, who is accused of hatching a conspiracy to exchange the minor’s blood samples to ensure that the occupants of the car get a ‘no alcohol’ report.
“We are forced to keep the faith one way or the other, because there is no other hope that we will ever get justice. At least, the hearing should have started now. We have applied for a speedy hearing, but nothing has happened about that either,” Ashwini’s mother said on Tuesday.
Suresh Kushta, Ashwini’s father, said: “Today, two full years have passed. But we are yet to get justice. Instead, freedom has now been granted to these people who were in jail. The judiciary granted them bail saying that since the trial has not yet begun and the charges are yet to be framed, they cannot remain in jail for a long time. So, they were released on bail.”
“Is this my beti bachao beti badhao?”
Ashwini’s father said that the accused will roam freely while they are the ones who suffer endlessly, and even posed a question to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, referring to his target as “beti bachao beti padhao”.
“Now they will walk around freely and comfortably while the case continues. But we are the ones who suffer endlessly, as if we are being punished for a crime. What wrong have we done? PM Modi talks about ‘Save the Daughter and Educate the Daughter’. He talks about empowering girls and achieving 33 per cent women’s quota. But when girls come out of their homes, families like ours work day and night, shedding blood and sweat to earn money, educate them and send them abroad with dreams of their future,” Suresh Kushta said.
He added: “Then the spoiled children of the rich crush them under their cars. Even after saying so much, after pleading so many times, and after approaching every possible person, the court proceedings have not properly begun until today. And charges have not been filed even after all this time.”
The family of the victim, Anish Awadhiya, also expressed similar sentiments during the trial period in the case.
His mother, Savita Awadhiya, said: “The system there is completely flawed, because everyone is getting bail one by one. It has been almost two years, and my son has not received justice yet. All the people who were inside [jail] They are granted bail gradually. It seems as if [father of the minor accused] He influenced people with money earlier, and perhaps even now he may influence the new judge…”
“Our demand was that since the accident was caused by a minor, a law should be made so that people learn not to give vehicles to underage children or allow them such freedom,” he said.
When a child drinks heavily in bars and drives an expensive car, the parents are also responsible because they allowed it, he added, questioning labeling the child as a minor after such incidents.
He added that a law should be enacted so that people understand that they should not allow their children to behave this way.
