My husband has done nothing wrong, insisted Shima Kathuria, the wife of businessman Manuj Kathuria, who has been arrested for driving his SUV through a flooded street that allegedly caused water to swell and breach the gates of a coaching center in Delhi, leading to deaths of three IAS aspirants.
Manoj is among the five arrested in connection with the case and his SUV has also been seized.
Speaking to News18, Shima said: “On Sunday evening, police came to my house and asked my husband about the incident. They said his car was driving in front of the institute when the incident happened and they would like to take him for questioning. Obviously, when the police show up at your door, you get worried but they assured us there will be no criminal liability. They asked him to go in the same car and said you and your vehicle will be back very soon after the questioning is over.”
However, she said within 20 minutes, her father-in-law received a call from Manoj that they were arresting him. “We panicked. For a long time, we didn’t know what the charges against him were. And then we got to know they were putting the gravest of charges — Section 105 — which is non-bailable. Next day, our legal counsel made several requests to get the FIR copy but it was denied by labelling it a sensitive matter. We were finally handed over the FIR copy in front of the judge when the hearing was going on. So, the counsel had no way to prepare for the hearings.”
Kathuria’s wife said the video clearly showed the car was not speeding as has been alleged by the police. “The brake lights were on. In a situation where the water comes up to the bonnet of your car, no person wants to deliberately get into that so he was constantly braking. By the time he realised the water had come up to the bonnet, it was too late for him to turn back. The only way forward was to cross the waterlogged road and get to a safe spot which anyone who drives will do. That’s what he did.”
Expressing faith in the judiciary, she said she was sure her husband would be out soon. “The car was moving in first gear. My husband has done nothing wrong. We trust our judicial system. I am sure he will be out soon.”
She added: “We will do whatever it takes to clear his name. He was just an innocent bystander trying to get to a safe spot in a situation like that. I am sure the judiciary will take note of that and justice will prevail.”
Earlier, speaking to news agency PTI, Shima had said the gate of the Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar must have weakened due to the waterlogging in the area.
“The gate (of a coaching centre) cannot break like that. The gate must have weakened due to frequent waterlogging in the area. Displaced water could have been hitting the gates earlier also. The water displaced by my husband’s car must have been the final straw and it must have weakened the gate, causing it to break,” she said.
She added: “The car would have stalled had he stopped. He did not know which buildings he crossed. He was making sure that he was driving straight and not hitting someone. We had never been to those institutes, nor knew how they are operating.”
Three civil services aspirants died on Saturday evening after water from a flooded drain gushed into the basement of Rau’s IAS Study Circle in Old Rajinder Nagar where a library was set up.
The tragedy has not only exposed the crumbling infrastructure of the national capital but also triggered massive student protests as well as a political war of words.
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