Pune: A Std X student (16) died, while her sister (17) and father suffered serious injuries after a trailer truck hit their motorcycle from the rear on Katraj-Kondhwa Road around 1.30pm on Tuesday.The motorcyclist had picked up his daughters from their school in Katraj and was heading home when the accident occurred. Passers-by rushed to the spot and took all three to a hospital, where the girl was declared dead.The Bharati Vidyapeeth police identified the deceased girl as Pratibha Naik.Pratibha suffered serious head injuries. Her sister, Vaishnavi, suffered multiple fractures to her legs after the truck’s front wheel ran over them. Their father, Devidas Naik (45), also suffered injuries. Both Vaishnavi and Devidas have been admitted to a private hospital in Katraj.“We have seized the trailer truck. The process of registering a case against its driver is under way,” said senior inspector Surendra Gaikwad of the Bharati Vidyapeeth police.“The two girls and their father were going to their home in Gujar-Nimbalkarwadi near Katraj. After reaching a spot near Kapila Dairy on Katraj-Kondhwa Road, Devidas took a U-turn. He was waiting to take a left turn towards Gujar-Nimbalkarwadi when a truck heading towards Katraj hit their motorcycle from the rear,” Gaikwad said.“Pratibha, riding pillion, suffered serious head injuries in the accident. Vaishnavi fell off the motorcycle and landed on the road. The truck’s wheel ran over her legs,” he added.“The Naik family moved to Pune from Nanded about 15 years ago. They have been staying in a rented house in Gujar-Nimbalkarwadi,” said Sadba Patole, a relative of the family.The girls’ father works as a watchman at a school in Katraj, while their mother works at a kindergarten, also in Katraj.“Devidas has four daughters. Earlier in the day, he had picked up his two younger daughters from school and dropped them home. Devidas is unable to afford school vans for his daughters, so he used to pick them up from school and drop them home on his motorcycle. Devidas had picked up Pratibha and Vaishnavi, both Std X students at a PMC-run Marathi school, as usual on Tuesday,” Patole said.A resident of the area said Pratibha and Vaishnavi were bright students. Pratibha dreamed of becoming a police officer and was working towards achieving her goal. Vaishnavi has a special interest in painting.The girls’ relatives said the family’s economic condition was modest. “It would be difficult for them to bear the medical expenses of Vaishnavi and Devidas,” a relative said.The accident caused traffic congestion on Katraj-Kondhwa Road for some time as road-widening work is under way in the area. Traffic police rushed to the spot, moved the trailer aside and restored the flow of traffic.
