19-year-old hit by school bus while dropping off younger brother

MUMBAI: A 19-year-old woman died after being struck by a school bus while she was dropping her younger brother for a school picnic. The accident occurred at Gocharpada in Virar East on Tuesday morning. The deceased has been identified as Siddhi Phutane, daughter of a Mumbai police constable.
According to the Virar police, the incident occurred around 7:30am on Tuesday as students from Narasimha Gobind Vartak (NGV) school in Virar were leaving for their excursion to Mumbai. Phutane, who lived near the school, had gone to drop her younger brother, Om, a Class 5 student, to the bus. As the students were boarding and parents bidding farewell, Phutane too was seen standing below the window of the bus and waving to her brother. She was hit while the driver was reversing the bus.
“The bus driver explained that while reversing, the rear tyre hit a pothole, causing the vehicle to tilt and which led to him losing control,” said a Virar police officer.
Phutane was rushed to Sanjeevani Hospital in Virar by other parents and bystanders. She succumbed to her injuries a few hours later.
Phutane’s father who is attached to the Naigaon Local Arms division in Dadar said that when their daughter did not return after dropping off Om, they called her mobile and a stranger received the call and informed them that the 19-year-old was hit by the bus. “The school authorities did not even bother to inform us about the accident,” said the police constable.
Police officers said that the bus was hired by the school from a private contractor for the picnic. Vikas Vartak Bandu, trustee of the school, declined to comment on the incident when approached.
The Virar police have registered a case against the bus driver, Rohan Sanjay Salvi, 24, a resident of Kopri under section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code, and arrested him.