Noida: While travelling from Noida to Shikohabad on a UP Roadways bus, a young woman died near Mathura June 15, amid a spat in which her family alleges that the bus driver and staff threw her off the bus after suspecting that she had the Covid-19 virus.
According to officials and the police, 19-year-old Anshika died due to a cardiac arrest. Her family said that while travelling, she fainted due to heat and exhaustion, prompting the bus driver and conductor to suspect that she was infected with coronavirus, a report says.
That fuelled an argument, the family said, after which the bus driver, conductor threw her off the bus, near a toll plaza in Mathura. Anshika suffered a cardiac arrest at some point during the argument, her family alleged.
However, Mathura Police said that there was no evidence of assault, and the woman was dropped midway.
“The victim’s family had approached the police station and we got a post-mortem conducted at the District Hospital. The cause of death came to be a heart attack, which is a natural cause. Therefore, it did not merit any FIR or action. There was a coronavirus scare since she was unwell but the driver dropped her near a toll plaza so she could hail another transport,” said Mant Station House officer Bhim Singh.
Anshika’s father Sushil Kumar, who works as a security guard in Patparganj, said the family had decided to send Anshika and her mother to Shikohabad, their hometown, to keep them safe amid growing Covid-19 cases in Delhi.
Sarvesh Devi and Anshika boarded the bus at 2 pm from Noida’s Sector 37. Her brother Shiv was informed that she had died, at 4.20 pm.
Shiv said that his sister was fine when she boarded the bus, but that at some point in the journey, due to heat and exhaustion, she fainted.
The entire bus behaved as if she was infected with coronavirus and not a single person helped her, he said, adding that due to this, the driver and conductor began to harass her, after which they wrapped her in a blanket and threw her out of the bus.
Anshika and her mother also tried to reason with the bus staff, but to no avail, the family alleges. Shiv said that they went to file an FIR but were denied on the grounds that she died a ‘natural’ death and not due to violence or assault.
PNN/Agencies