SUV mows down infant at Samaypur Badli, driver arrested

A month after a Finance Ministry staffer died after his bike was hit by a speeding BMW near Dhaula Kuan here, a 14-month-old boy was killed after being hit by a SUV in Samaypur Badli.

The mishap took place when a white Tata Harrier, being driven by a 20-year-old youth, allegedly hit the child on Sunday afternoon. At the time of the incident, the victim’s mother was standing by the road with her son.

The child, who sustained grievous injuries, was rushed to Burari Hospital where doctors declared him dead on arrival. A case under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) has been registered.

The SUV driver, Samar Choudhary, a resident of Rohini, has been arrested, and the offending vehicle has been seized, the police said. Further investigation is underway.

This tragedy adds to a growing list of fatal mishaps that have shaken the national capital in recent months, raising concerns over reckless driving, delayed emergency response and pedestrian safety in residential and high-traffic areas alike.

On August 7 around 6 am, two youths (aged 19 and 16) sustained serious injuries after the motorcycle they were riding was hit by a vehicle near Bhikaji Cama Place on Ring Road. One of them succumbed to his injuries on August 14, while the other remains in the ICU. The accused driver, Rajeev Ranjan, alias “Munna” (29), a resident of Rangpuri, was arrested.

In the early hours of September 15, Mayank Jain (28) was allegedly run over and dragged by a Baleno car near Vasant Vihar around 3 am. The police registered an FIR at the Vasant Vihar police station.

A day earlier, i.e. on September 14, the city witnessed one of the most high-profile hit-and-run cases this year. A BMW driven by 25-year-old Gaganpreet Kaur rammed into a motorcycle near Dhaula Kuan, killing Finance Ministry Deputy Secretary Navjot Singh and injuring his wife. The couple was returning from Bangla Sahib Gurdwara when the high-speed collision overturned the BMW and flung the motorcycle into a bus pillar. Kaur was detained and an FIR was registered at Chanakyapuri.

In another horrific incident on October 16, 12-year-old Murshid was crushed to death by a Mahindra Thar in South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj while returning from school. According to eyewitnesses, the SUV hit the boy and then reversed over him before fleeing. Murshid, a Class VIII student who lived in a jhuggi near the site, was declared dead on arrival. The police arrested the accused, Pooja Sehrawat (42), who was later released on bail.