Two policemen died on Saturday after their jeep had a head-on collision with a bike, following which they rammed into a state transport bus. What was even more shocking was the apathy of the bystanders, all of whom refused to help the policemen, and were instead clicking images of them.
The accident happened in Alanahalli on the the Mysuru-T Narasipura road on Saturday morning, while the policemen were on their way to Suttur for security arrangements for a yatra.
32-year-old Lakshman, the driver of the jeep, died on the spot, but the 38-year-old inspector Mahesh Kumar was bleeding profusely while stuck in the jeep for close to half an hour, when the Mysuru SP and his team reached the spot of the accident.
And as bystanders gathered around the mangled jeep, not one of them helped the dying inspector. Forgot taking him to a hospital, no one even made a phone call to call an ambulance.
“We arrived at the spot some 25 minutes after the accident, and took Mahesh Kumar to a nearby private hospital. He succumbed to his injuries within minutes,” the Mysuru SP told TNM.
When a road accident happens, the hour immediately after the accident - called the ‘golden hour’ - is very crucial to saving the lives of the victims. According to a study conducted by SaveLife Foundation, 50% of road accident deaths in India can be avoided if the victims are given immediate care.
“We have conducted several awareness programmes even in this area, but people don’t come forward to help because they don’t want to get entangled in a police case,” the Mysuru SP said.
“In this case, many people apparently didn’t react because they were shocked that policemen were involved in the accident,” he added.
Karnataka government has tabled the Good Samaritan Bill in its Assembly to prevent legal hassles to people who help accident victims. The Supreme Court has already give guidelines on the matter, which forbid police to take the names and details of any good Samaritan who helps a victim.