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| Saturday, 9 August 2003 |
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Girl knocked down and dragged for two kilometres by Bharatha Malawaraarachchi and Deepal Samarasekera Another tragic episode was added to the grim tale of the current spate of road fatalities when a young girl who came for a job interview in the Eheliyagoda town was knocked down by a Pajero which then sped away dragging the victim under it a fair distance. The father of the victim who accompanied her for the interview looked on at the gory spectacle. The incident took place on Thursday night at around 9.30 . Eheliyagoda Police said the speeding vehicle had dragged the girl's body a distance of around two kilometres from the spot of the incident. The mangled remains of the girl's body was later discovered in a stream beside the road. According to police the girl's body had got wedged in the underside of the vehicle . However Avissawella police were able to arrest the suspect driver and his pajero type vehicle was taken into custody around midnight the same day. Police said the driver was under the influence of liquor at the time of arrest. The girl who came from Ginigathhena to Eheliyagoda seeking employment had obtained a job at a garment factory. She had been asked to report to work on August 12. Police said, she was crossing the road with her father to return home when the tragedy occurred. Witnesses had told Police that she had been hit by the pajero which came at high speed from the direction of Ratnapura heading towards Avissawella, while her father was looking on. The driver of the pajero had slowed down the vehicle as soon as the victim was hit but then accelerated and sped away from the scene dragging the girl's body underneath. The errant driver was later arrested in Avissawella as the girl's father had swiftly notified the Police about the accident. The suspect is said to be a resident in the Homagama area. The Magistrate inquiry into the incident was to be held yesterday. Further investigation are conducted by Eheliyagoda Police OIC IP Sendanayake and Avissawella HQI Palitha Siriwardena under the supervision of Ratnapura SSP Prasanna Nanayakkara. In another road tragedy on Wednesday, a father and son travelling on a motorbike died on the spot after being knocked down by a van in front of Maharagama Police Station. According to statistics, one in every Sri Lankan dies every 4.5 hours in road accidents. It has been further revealed that 11 per cent of road accidents are due to drunken driving. Amongst other factors are; lack of body protection, lack of experience, defective judgement etc. |
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