Woman knocked down by police SUV thanks God for life

3314373

Sascha Wilson

Wincing in pain a day after she was struck by a police vehicle, a 44-year-old Barrackpore housewife is thanking God for sparing her life.

While she sustained no broken bones or internal bleeding, Asha Dass says her near-death encounter has left her with severe body pains and unable to move around without support.

In an interview from her bed at her home on Rochard Douglas Road, Barrackpore, yesterday, the mother of two recalled that the last thing she remembers before the accident is opening the gate for her husband, Rishi Dass, to reverse their car from the yard.

They were going by a relative who lives nearby to pick pommecythere to make chow.

She was among six people, including three police officers, injured during the accident which took place in front of her home on Monday.

Around 2.30 pm a police jeep transporting three officers overtook a parked vehicle, crashed into an oncoming Nissan Sentra B-15 driven by Moruga mechanic Christopher Charles and then slammed into Dass, pinning her to the wire fence.

She was knocked unconscious.

She said, “All I remember is hearing Trisha, his (husband) nephew wife, telling me to get up. ‘ Asha get up.’ I was on the ground. She hit me on my face and I regain consciousness. I don’t know how long I was out for, I don’t know. I had real pain. I feel like I couldna see nobody self.” By then a crowd, including residents and police, had gathered.

Dass’ husband thought she had died. “I telling the officer allyuh kill my wife. Because she didn’t responding and is when we bring she and put she out here is when we get something small. We get a lil roll eye from she so we see a lil improvement,” he recalled.

Complaining that the police showed no concern for his wife after the accident, Rishi said he asked one of the officers to help him move her, but he refused.

Dass was discharged from hospital yesterday morning after the tests and scans revealed that she had no broken bones and no internal bleeding or major injuries.

While Dass received only cuts and bruises, she is in a lot of pain.

“Praise, the Lord, praise the Lord,” she said.

Rishi said he is waiting for his wife to recover before he considers compensation.

However, he wants the police to be held accountable.

He said, “We want to see justice because that is what they say they is about.”

Also recalling the incident, Charles said he went to purchase car parts and was on his way back to his St Mary’s Village home when the accident occurred. He had one person in his car, Anthony Gonzales. “

I saw the police vehicle coming with extra speed. When I watch, I saw a black vehicle parked on the road. They did not watch, they overtook the vehicle. At the same time I was coming up. They slam my vehicle off the road. The police vehicle spun around and hit Asha. My vehicle ended up off the road. Almost the whole of the right side of my vehicle damaged,” Charles said.

Charles, who was also discharged from the hospital yesterday, complained about pain in his chest, back and ankle.

Lamenting that he is unable to work, the mechanic says he has a wife and three children to support. “Due to these injuries, I cannot do anything. Until I start to feel better, and I do not know when that is,” he added. Charles was told that before the accident the police jeep was seen speeding in Moruga.

Charles’ passenger and the officers were also treated and discharged from the hospital. Guardian Media was told that the officers are on seven days sick leave.

Barrackpore police are investigating.