Mumbai: A two-and-half-year-old boy on a tricycle, out for an evening stroll with his mother, lost his life after an SUV hit him in Borivli West late Wednesday. The motorist, Samir Parekh, a 48-year-old doctor, was arrested by the Borivli police the same day. When the police produced Parekh before a magistrate court on Thursday and sought his custody, the court came down heavily on them for applying bailable sections. Parekh was released on bail, only after the court issued a notice to the investigating officer.The child, Krishiv Mandavia, was taken for a stroll on his tricycle by his mother, Riddhi, on Chandavarkar Road. Around 9.45 pm, the duo was heading back home when Parekh’s SUV moved towards them at Om Shanti Chowk.According to the police’s remand application, the SUV hit the mother-son duo. Due to the impact, Riddhi fell down while Krishiv got dragged further. The SUV then hit another car passing near the mother-son duo. Police said Krishiv was trapped between the two vehicles and suffered grievous injuries. “Riddhi was overcome with shock,” said a relative. Parekh, with the help of passersby, took the child to a nursing home nearby. The doctors asked for the child to be moved to Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital in Kandivli, where he was pronounced dead.On Thursday, a pall of gloom enveloped the neighbourhood as relatives offered condolences to the grieving Mandavia family. “Krishiv was an only child. He lived with his parents and grandparents who are inconsolable. How could the motorist drive so rashly in a residential neighbourhood?,” said a relative. A neighbour pointed out that the child and his mother would regularly venture for a stroll in the evenings. Borivli police seized Parekh’s SUV as well as the other car that was hit.On Thursday, the police produced Parekh before the Borivli magistrate court and sought two days’ custody for probing whether the road crash was intentional or accidental. “You have applied bailable sections. Is the police trying to help the accused?” remarked magistrate Shivdatt Patil. The court issued a notice to the investigating officer Sagar Pawar.Parekh’s lawyer, Pradeep Kumar Vishwakarma, said his client had rushed the injured child to hospital and all the allegations being levelled against him were untrue.Police applied charges of negligence and rash driving under the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and Motor Vehicles Act against Parekh.
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