Mumbai: A gym instructor and entrepreneur arrested for the death of an eight-year-old boy after running him over in Bandra last Sunday has claimed that he “unexpectedly” came in front of her SUV and denied being on her phone at the time.In her bail plea submitted before a sessions court on Wednesday, the accused, Megha Rawal, said she noticed the boy, Ansh Gupta, crossing the road near a garden, stopped her vehicle, waited till she believed he had completely crossed and then moved ahead slowly. She sensed something was wrong when she saw bystanders looking towards her vehicle right after and stopped it again, said the plea. Rawal said she drove the child to a hospital.The plea said the “unfortunate and unintended road accident” unfolded within moments, leaving her with no reasonable opportunity to anticipate the child’s movement or avoid the collision. “[Rawal] did not deliberately drive towards the victim, nor did she have any intention whatsoever of causing any injury to the victim,” it said, adding that it wasn’t due to “rash, reckless or deliberate conduct on her part”.The plea said even if the prosecution were to establish some degree of rashness or negligence, it would not automatically satisfy the higher legal requirement of intention or knowledge under Section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of BNS, which has been invoked in the case. Acknowledging that Rawal was conscious of the seriousness of the situation and the loss suffered by the child’s family, it said “the emotional gravity of the consequence must not be conflated with the legal requirements of the offence alleged”.Rawal submitted copies of her husband’s phone call history and said she did not make or receive calls for a considerable period before the accident. Calling the allegation in the FIR that she was using a phone while driving “wholly false”, the plea said she used her phone only after the accident during failed attempts to inform her husband on the way to the hospital. It said this could be verified through electronic and call detail records, adding that Rawal had surrendered her phone to the investigating officer.The plea said the prosecution needs to establish specific details such as the vehicle’s speed, the road’s condition and width, the prevailing traffic conditions and visibility, the boy’s position and movement, and the precise circumstances that led to the collision, which rely on objective evidence rather than Rawal’s continued custodial interrogation.The plea also cited Rawal’s personal and professional background, saying she was the founder of a startup focused on children’s health and well-being. “This is not being stated as a defence to the accident, but as a circumstance relevant to understanding the applicant’s conduct and character,” it said.Public prosecutor Pankaj Chavan submitted police’s reply opposing bail. The reply said the road was wide enough for two vehicles to pass and noted that since the garden is located alongside the road, children frequently visit it to play and cross the road. Police cited the gravity of the offence and said crucial aspects of the investigation are pending, including CCTV verification, RTO vehicle inspection, document authentication and recording of additional witness statements. They said they had recorded the statement of an eyewitness and a sub-inspector had conducted a panchanama of the spot.The boy’s father, Ravindra Gupta, sought to file an intervention plea through advocate Akash Vikram Singh opposing bail. The matter is scheduled for hearing on Thursday. Ravindra alleged in his police statement that Rawal drove at high speed while talking on a phone, aware that such a conduct could cause someone’s death.
