Janani Harani was, shepherding her younger sister onto a public bus to get to school in Bangalore when the driver started speeding. The shattering consequence just seconds later was that the little girl lay run over on the road.
“My little sister boarded the bus and had just climbed onto the first step when, due to the jerk, she fell off with her heavy school bag and the bus ran over her,” said Janani, a student of Class 10.
Shubha, whose tenth birthday is tomorrow, lay bleeding on the road. Eyewitnesses and commuters forced the bus to stop and surrounded the driver; some helped get the injured child to hospital. Doctors say she is stable but needs surgery. A big wound on her right leg is badly infected, and they are worried they may need to amputate it.
Shubha has told her family for a while that she would like to be a dancer when she grows up.
“She is a very fast runner. She got 1st rank in school,” Janani said, tears shining in her eyes.
The bus driver was detained for questioning by the police after Shubha’s mother filed a complaint against him.
